Alternative
by TStabler
Summary: During her senior year in high school, Oliva benson is arrested for assaulting her mother, but instead of putting her in jail and ruining her life, the cops give her an alternative. She's bitter, reisitant, and rebellious, until she meets her partner! E/O
1. The Only Alternative

**A/N: Ever see that show, The Mod Squad? That's where this came from :) Complete and utter AU-ish goodness. With some stability and familiarity thrown in for good measure. Hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and its characters are the property of Dick Wolf. This story, the narrative, dialogue and plot belong to TStabler©.**

"You understand that this is the only way to get out of this without facing criminal charges," a scrawny looking man, wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night, said. He was leaning over the interrogation table, leering into the chocolate brown eyes of Olivia Benson.

Olivia smirked at him. "It was self-defense, you buttmunch."

"Hey! She knows your name," the other man, with thinning gray hair, said with a chuckle. He then focused on Olivia. "You don't need an arrest or a conviction on your record, Olivia. Just take the deal."

Olivia looked at the two items they'd placed in front of her, and then glanced up at each one of the officers. "Why me?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "How do you even know you can trust me with one of those things, huh? How can you be sure I'll even know what the hell I'm doing?"

"Well," the gray-haired man said, "First, you'll be given the standard twenty weeks of training, after-school and on weekends. Next to that, we know you're smart, we know you know your shit. You're fast, you're strong, and you have a very, very good reason to want to work with us. Don't you?" He asked her that last question with narrowed eyes, and it came out as more of an accusation than a question.

"How…why…what the fuck?" she spat, narrowing her own eyes. "How do know that I'm…what?"

The man with the sunglasses sat on the edge of the table and peered over the specs at her. "Look, this was no coincidence. We've been waiting for you to fight back, hard, so we could pop you. We knew that she'd get the best damn lawyer she could get her alcoholic hands on, leaving you no choice but to take this offer. You've been given what most people would consider a goddamn gift from God!"

The gray-haired man's eyes widened and he cleared his throat. "Don't listen to him. He likes to make everything sound like a conspiracy. He's right about one thing, though. This is your only alternative," he said with a sigh. "We're offering you a future, Olivia. One you may not have if you walk out that door and take your chances in court."

Olivia looked into his eyes, and noticed there was something kind lurking behind the fierce glare she was getting. "What about college? My plans after…"

"Miss Benson," the scrawny one said with a chuckle. "You won't need college. And according to your permanent record and college applications," he said, holding up a file, "You were gonna end up here, anyway. You wanted to be a cop, right?"

Olivia scoffed. "Yeah, but not until I was like, thirty," she spat.

"Well, Christmas came early this year," the gray-haired man said, pushing the two items on the table toward her. "Now take these, sign the contract, or Munch here will have to arrest you, and there goes your entire life."

Olivia looked at the badge and the gun, then looked over at the stack of stapled paper next to it. "What will she do to me if I sign this?"

"Olivia," the kind-eyed man said, leaning closer to her now. "If you sign this, and take this deal, your mother will never hurt you again."

Needing no more prodding, Olivia lifted the pen and signed her name. She didn't even read the contract.

* * *

"You look like shit," Nicole said to Olivia during first period.

Olivia hummed as she propped her head up with one hand, her eyelids drooping. "You'd look like shit, too, if you were up all night with the world's most arrogant bastard making you run laps and fire your gun at a target the size of a fucking peanut." She started babbling rather quickly, in a monotone voice, as her eyes struggled to stay open. "I swear to God I wanted to punch him right in his smirking face. All he did was tell me how hot I look when I'm pissed, which only made me more pissed, and then I started to lose my focus and I killed a bird because I wasn't aiming, I was looking at him!"

Nicole stared at her, blankly. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Olivia said. "I got into a fight with my mother," Olivia said, yawning.

"Oh," Nicole said, nodding. "That explains it."

Olivia nodded, her eyes closing, but she was broken out of her almost-sleep when they heard a scream from out in the hall. "What the hell?" she asked, her eyes now open and every part of her body wide-awake.

"Okay," the teacher said. "Stay calm, stay in your seats! I'm going to go…Miss Benson! Sit down!"

Olivia didn't listen. She ran across the room and out of the door, stopping for only a second to judge the direction from which the screams were coming. "Shit," she muttered to herself, running left down the hall. She turned right at the end of the corridor, following the screams, and kicked down the closed, locked, classroom door to which the blood-curdling cries had led. Her gun was aimed and she looked dead pissed.

"Ten seconds," a man with a stopwatch, sitting on the desk, said, smugly. "Nice! You know, you really do look hot when you're pissed."

"What the fuck is going on?" she yelled, aiming her gun at him, now.

Another person, with his own gun drawn, appeared next to her. The man with the stopwatch looked at him and said, "Fourteen seconds. She's kicking your ass, Stabler."

"What the hell, man? I was taking a fucking test!" the young man, named Stabler, yelled.

"I was taking a fucking nap!" Olivia yelled.

Stabler, dropping his gun, looked at her and said, "You were taking a nap and got here faster than I did?"

Olivia cocked an eyebrow at him, trying to ignore how gorgeous he was. "I wasn't really sleeping, I just…"

"Hey!" the man with the stopwatch yelled. "Who said you could talk to each other?"

"You are really fucking annoying," Olivia said, grumpily at the man holding the stopwatch.

The kid beside her laughed. "I already like you," he mumbled.

"This was your first test, Benson," the man with the stopwatch said. "Just making sure your priorities are straight, and you know the rules. Hey, Stabler, I'm your commanding officer. Tucker. You've already met Munch, and Captain Cragen. Stabler, this is Benson. Benson, this is Stabler."

Olivia looked at him, swallowing the giggle that fought to escape, and said, "Got a first name?"

"Elliot," he said, holding out his hand.

She shook his hand, silently marveling at how soft they were, and said, "Olivia."

"What'd they get you for?" Elliot asked, putting his gun back on his holster.

Olivia shrugged as she did the same. "Almost killed my mother since she was, ya know, trying to kill me. What about you?"

"Oh, I, uh, beat up my ex-girlfriend's boyfriend. He's still unconscious," Elliot explained, smirking.

"Wow, you must really still love her," Olivia said with a chuckle.

Elliot shook his head. "Hate her, actually. I caught him hitting my daughter."

Olivia's eyes widened. "You have a daughter? Shit, how old?"

"She'll be two in December," Elliot said, his eyes bright and his smile wide.

Olivia felt her heart pounding. This guy was already making her fall in love with him, and he hadn't even done anything. "Cute," Olivia said, blinking at him.

Elliot continued. "Her name's Maureen. She's amazing. I'm not proud of how she happened, but I'm proud of…"

Tucker interrupted them, again. "Knock it off! This is not a social gathering! You're not on a goddamn date! I'm proud of you for knowing it was your job to help the girl who was screaming. Clearly," he said, holding up a tape recorder, "No one is in any real danger today, which is good, because as I learned last night, Benson would have blown his head off without asking questions. Stabler, you probably would have yelled at him and choked him until he passed out. You two need work," he said. "A lot of it. After school, we meet at the One-Six. I'll be taking you someplace, uh, special. Bring your guns. And a sleeping bag."

"I'm sorry," Olivia said. "What? Why do we need sleeping bags?" she asked, folding her arms.

Tucker smirked. "After a few hours of training, you two get to will get to spend some quality time together. I think it's supposed to rain, though. Bring an umbrella, Benson. Wouldn't want your hair to frizz." He hopped off the desk and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "Get back to class."

* * *

"Come, the fuck, on," Tucker yelled. "You have another target to hit, and why the hell are you…this is not naptime, Benson! Get your hot little ass up!"

"I can't feel my legs," Olivia said, lying in the muddy grass, breathing heavily, as the rain poured over her.

Elliot, panting, lying next to her said, "What the fuck are legs?"

Tucker laughed at them, and bent over, leering at them as the thunder boomed. "You two make me sick! You little, pathetic pansies are the worst recruits Cragen's ever chosen. I don't know what the hell he sees in you."

"We have been running," Olivia huffed, propping herself up on her elbows, "For five fucking hours. Nonstop! While firing heavy guns at tiny, tiny things! That fucking hurts, dude." She gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes as lightning flashed in the sky. "Not to mention, I don't even listen to my own mother, so this whole 'bossing us around' thing that you're doing is really fucking pushing me to..."

"Listen, Missy," Tucker barked, "You're gonna be doing a lot more than just running and shooting in the next twenty weeks, so you better get used to being in pain and taking orders." He threw them each a small white towel and said, "Have a good night in the mud, worms." He walked away, shaking his head.

"I hate that guy," Elliot said, wiping his face with the towel.

"That makes two of us," Olivia said, running the towel over her own face, as if it would help. "Where the hell are we, anyway?"

Elliot scoffed. "The middle of nowhere, to the left of Hell," he said, looking around. "Come with me," he said, as his eyes focused on something a few yards away. He stood and walked toward it.

"Where are we going?" Olivia asked, following him.

"I'm not spending the entire night sleeping in a muddy, soaked, sleeping bag in the fucking rain," he said, pointing. "Tree house."

Olivia laughed. "Nice," she said, running ahead of him.

"Hey!" Elliot yelled after her, running to catch up, "Haven't we done enough running?" He watched as Olivia effortlessly climbed the tree and pulled herself into the wooden structure. She turned, helping Elliot up into it, then leaned back against the shabby looking wall.

"I feel like a wet poodle," she said, taking off the wet, muddy, green denim jacket she'd been wearing. She threw it into the corner, and felt Elliot staring at her. She smirked.

Elliot blinked, shaking his head. He wasn't supposed to think this girl was hot, was he? "You, uh, you're pretty…fast."

"So I've been told," she said, knotting up and wringing out her tank top.

Elliot swallowed, hard, as he saw the toned stomach and taut, olive-colored skin beneath the fabric. He shook the sexual fantasies out of his head again and kicked off his shoes, took off his wet, gross socks, and sat next to her. "Well, maybe we should, uh, talk," he said.

"Maybe," Olivia said, shrugging. "We don't run in the same circle at school, and this is really an awkward way to be getting acquainted."

"Tell me about it," Elliot said, smirking. "Why aren't you on the track team or something? The way you run, man. Like the fucking wind."

"I'm not the type of person who should be around people," Olivia said. "It's easier for me if…" she paused, looking at him skeptically, unsure of whether or not she could trust him just yet. "I just don't like sports."

"Ah, okay, then," Elliot said. "So, uh, what did they promise you to get you to sign your life away?"

Olivia's breath hitched, her face went pale, she closed her eyes and an image of her mother flying into a drunken violent rage flashed vividly in her memory. "Oh, God," she whispered, pulling her knees to her chest.

"What?" Elliot asked, concerned at her sudden paleness . "Are you okay, Benson?"

Olivia shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, fine. Just had a, uh, thought." She ran her hand through her still-soaked her as a thunder crash boomed through the air. "God, I love this," she said as her eyes focused on the small cut-out window across from them.

"What, hiding out in a tree house with someone you barely know?" Elliot said, discreetly scooting closer to her.

"No," Olivia said. "Thunderstorms. Something about them," she said, then she shrugged. "They've always made me feel like I wasn't alone. Like the entire universe was suffering just like I was. The lightning amazes me, too. It amazes me how something so beautiful could be so deadly."

"Sounds like you," Elliot said, smirking at her. "I've seen you with a gun, and you are…very beautiful." Olivia shifted a bit, and jerked her head slightly. Elliot noticed, and knew he made her a little uncomfortable. He scooted even closer. "What?" he asked. "What did I say?"

Olivia, averting her eyes from him, said, "I'm not used to hearing that, that's all."

"No one's ever called you 'deadly' before?" Elliot chuckled.

"No," Olivia said, turning back to meet his eyes. "No one's ever called me beautiful before."

"Oh, well, you are, so…" he paused, cleared his throat and said, "I'll probably call you that again, sooner or later." He smiled at her and she let out a small laugh. Elliot had a strong desire to kiss her, but he didn't. He couldn't. Not here. Not now. Possibly not ever, if they were really going to be partners for life. He looked into her brown eyes, seeing so many emotions swimming in them that he knew had been living in his own blue eyes for so long. He had never believed in love at first sight, or soulmates, but this whole, entire situation was based on alternative choices, wasn't it? He blinked, cleared his throat, and said, "You never answered my question. What promise did they make you? Did you get it?"

"They, uh, they told me my mother would never hurt me again," Olivia said, quietly. "And, I think I did, yeah."

"She hurt you a lot, then," Elliot noted. He realized where all the pain in her eyes had come from, then. "Sounds like my father," he told her, giving her a reason for the pain he knew she saw in his.

Olivia tilted her head, and they shared a small, understanding smile. "Guess we have something in common, then. What about you? How did they nail you?"

"They promised me that I'd get custody of Maury, since the whole reason I beat the shit out of that guy was because Kathy left her alone with him," Elliot said. "I would kill for my daughter. I would die for her, and they know that. They used that. Mother fuckers." He pulled off his shirt, which had been sticking to his skin, and tossed it on top of Olivia's jacket.

Olivia gasped. He was gorgeous, and she had never felt the way she was feeling right now, and it scared her. She couldn't be having these kinds of feelings for him. Then again, she didn't really read the rules, so maybe she could. "I'm sorry," she said, resting a hand on his bare shoulder. She felt his muscle twitch beneath her fingers. It sent a shock up her spine.

Elliot shook his head and dropped it back against the wall. "I gave up everything I had planned, every goal I really had, to become some teenage, renegade cop. To keep my daughter! Now I'm stuck up a tree with you!"

Olivia shrugged. "It could be worse," she said.

"How could this possibly be worse?" Elliot asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You could be stuck in here with Tucker," she said, smirking at him.

Elliot nodded as he laughed, then he tilted his head. "It's really kind of calming. The rain."

Olivia made a passive sound of agreement. "The only thing that's not calming about it is that we're stuck up in this tree during this fucking storm. We didn't really think about this, did we?" she asked with a laugh.

"Guess not," Elliot chuckled. He looked at Olivia and smiled. "Might as well get comfortable," he said, smirking as he wrapped his arm around her. "We're cold and wet, and very tired, so, we should keep each other warm and comfotable," he said as he felt her head drop to his shoulder. "This is okay, right?" he asked, resting his head on top of hers.

"Elliot," Olivia said, yawning, "I have a feeling that whether it is or it isn't, it's gonna have to be."

Elliot grinned. "I think you may be right, Benson," he said to her as they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Are you seeing this?" Tucker yelled at Cragen. "Not only did they find the fucking treehouse, but they're up there cuddling! How the hell did you know?"

Cragen laughed, shook his head, and said, "Tucker, when are you gonna get it through your head that I know exactly what I'm doing? Go get me a cup of coffee, huh?"

Tucker sighed. "Yes, Sir," he said, walking out of the room.

"Oh, and Tucker," Cragen called, watching the young officer's head turn back around. "If you continue to berate my new detectives, you will be my _old_ one. They're here for a reason, and you will not treat them like they're inferior. You're supposed to train them, help them, and teach them. Tomorrow, I wanna see some actual training!"

"Yes, Sir," Tucker said, walking into the sqaudroom. He gritted his teeth as he poured Cragen a cup of coffee. He had only known Benson and Stabler for two days, and he already hated them. He made a vow, to himself, as he walked back into his captain's chambers, that he would make their lives hell as long as he could.

**A/N: It's a wild and crazy idea, but I'm running with it! Hope you like it! And yes, the school knows that they're working with the NYPD. They're allowed to have their guns.**


	2. We Don't Have A Choice

**A/N: Training gets rough, Olivia blows up, and Elliot shows his softer side. **

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and its characters. TStabler© owns the narrative, dialogue, and plot of this story.**

"Come on, Benson," Tucker yelled. "You really gonna let Stabler beat you?"

Olivia ran faster, pushed herself harder, and was now only a few feet behind Elliot.

Tucker yelled at her again. "Christ, Benson. Catch up to him, Missy!"

Something inside of Olivia cracked, making her stop dead in her tracks. Her eyes closed and visions of her mother yelling at her, calling her "Missy" as she was hit and punched, flashed in her mind, and she gasped. She shook her head, bending over, trying to push the memory away.

"Benson! Get your ass moving!" Tucker barked. He stormed over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her up.

Olivia popped up, suddenly, and turned, backing away. "Don't fucking touch me," she spat.

"I was just gonna see if you were okay," Tucker said. "Not only are you a weak fucking woman, you're a raging bitch, too. You listen to me, Missy, I am..."

Olivia reared back and nailed him with a right hook, hitting him in the jaw. "Do not call me that. Ever."

Tucker, holding his nose as his eyes watered, yelled, "You better watch your hot little ass, Benson!"

Elliot ran over, looked from Olivia to Tucker, and said, "What happened? What did he do to you?"

"Nothing," Olivia said too quickly. "I just..."

"Benson!" a loud voice interrupted. She turned to see Captain Cragen in the doorway, looking furious. "My office! Now!" he yelled. "You, too, Stabler," he added.

Olivia narrowed her eyes at Tucker, then walked out of the large gym where they had been running laps. She stormed down the hall, followed by Elliot, turned left into the squadroom, and walked into the Captain's office. She looked at Cragen and put her hands on her hips, still breathing heavily from the running. "What?" she spat.

"What?" Cragen asked, folding his arms. "You punched your C.O!"

Olivia ran a hand through her hair. "You saw that, huh?"

"Yes," Cragen said. "It was funny, and he'll have to live with the fact he got thwacked by a seventeen-year-old girl for the rest of life." He chuckled a bit, then said, "But did you read your contract? Either of you?"

Olivia looked up at the ceiling and bit her bottom lip. Elliot pursed his lips and twisted them to the side.

"So, then you don't know the rules," Cragen said, furrowing his brow. "Well, I can't give you all two-hundred-and-nine of them right now, but rule seven is 'don't fucking slug your C.O!"

"I'm sorry! He just...he called me weak, and a bitch, and he called me 'Missy'. My mother used to call me that, so I snapped," Olivia said, clenching and unclenching her fists.

Elliot looked over at her, and for the first time since they met, he really noticed the scars marring her otherwise perfect body. He winced a bit as he saw the large, healing bruise on her arm and the faded black eye she had. He was suddenly consumed with the intense desire to kill whoever had hurt her. And the intense desire to hold her until she forgot all about it.

"Benson," Cragen said, rubbing his forehead. "You've been through hell, and I know it'll take time, but you'll get through it. Stabler's gonna help you. That's what partners do. However, right now you two know less than shit about each other, and that makes for pretty horrible partners, right?"

"Partners?" Olivia asked. "We're not just training together?"

Cragen folded his arms again, shaking his head. "Once you've finished your training, you two will actually be partners. It was in your contract, Benson. Article A, section five," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Said you'd be training with your partner."

"I, uh, I read that part, Sir," Elliot said, raising his hand a bit.

Cragen chuckled, loving how eager Elliot was to prove he'd actually done something other than yell and hit things. "Tonight," he said. "After you're done, you're gonna be up in the cribs. I want you to get to know each other. Talk before you sleep. Tucker probably won't let you sleep long, though, so be prepared for a rude awakening."

* * *

Olivia was lying in her bunk, staring at the ceiling. After their physical training, they spent three hours working on interrogation tactics, then another hour of running. She could feel every muscle in her body, and every single one of them was aching. She tried to sleep, but whenever she closed her eyes she'd see her mother, or Tucker, or Elliot. Elliot had affected her, in a big way. She was going over everything he'd told her, everything he divulged, and she felt horrible that she couldn't do the same. She closed her eyes, and there he was. His blue eyes staring at her. Then, he snapped her out of it.

"Are you asleep?" Elliot called into the dark. "Hey! Benson?"

Olivia, on the bunk above him, rolled over. "I'm awake, Stabler. What the hell do you want?"

Elliot smirked. This girl was a firecracker. "To talk to you," he said.

"We just spent two hours talking," Olivia said.

Elliot chuckled. "I don't think we're done. I told you everything about me, with a few exceptions, and all you told me was that you like tacos and have a crush on Tom Cruise. That's hardly a fair conversation."

Olivia sighed and rolled over again. Elliot stared up at the creaking bunk above him, knowing that it was her body lying there; he wondered what she looked like right now. He heard her speak again. "I don't like to talk about myself," she said. "I have a hard time opening up to people. I don't know if I can..."

"Trust me," Elliot said, finishing her thought. "I'm telling you right now, Olivia, you can trust me." He looked up again and the moving dip in the bunk was driving him crazy. "Can you come down here?" he asked, kicking her playfully through the mattress.

Olivia rolled her eyes, sat up, and hopped down, and she peered down at him as she stood next to his bed. "Happy?"

Elliot nodded and sat up. He patted the mattress, asking her to sit, and she did. "Talk to me, Olivia," he said, softly. "I swear, you can trust me. I trust you, so are you telling me I shouldn't, because you don't trust me?"

Olivia turned her face away from him. "It's not you. I don't trust anybody, Elliot. Do you know how hard it is for me to do what your asking me to do?"

"Yeah, I do," Elliot said. "I'm your partner now. And you're mine. I don't know exactly what the job entails but I know what the word means," he told her. "We don't have a choice here, Benson. We have to be able to trust each other, Olivia, with our lives. And that means knocking down all those walls." He brushed his finger lightly over her arm and she flinched, pulling away. "Woah, woah," he said, raising his eyebrows. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

The flicker of fear in Olivia's eyes faded, and she nodded, leaning back toward him, and said, "I know. It's the dark. And the fact that I'm in excruciating pain. And Tucker calling me 'Missy' all night. It all just reminds me of her." She relaxed into his touch as he caressed her cheek.

"What the hell did she do to you?" Elliot asked, moving his hand from her cheek to lightly brush her hair behind her ear.

"She destroyed me," Olivia said quietly. "Even when I fought back, she fucking found a way to ruin my life. She had me scared to death of my own fucking shadow, Elliot, and when I finally got the nerve to protect myself and take back my life, I got thrown into this shit. It sucks." She looked at Elliot, his blue eyes seeming to glow in the dark. "The only good thing that's come out of this so far is I met you. The first person I...am allowing myself to trust. Sort of."

"Well, 'sort of' is okay, for now," Elliot said as he smiled at her. "We'll work on it," he said as he wrapped an arm around her the way he had in the tree house. "Right, Partner?"

Olivia looked into his eyes with a smile. "Partner. Yeah," she said.

"Promise me," Elliot whispered to her. "Promise me that we'll work on this. You and me," he said.

"I promise," Olivia whispered, still gazing into the eyes she might be falling in love with, even if she wasn't allowed to do it. She made a mental note to ask Cragen for a copy of the rules.

Elliot stared back at her, running his hand down her arm, resting it on her hip. "You really are beautiful," he said.

She peered into his eyes and felt drawn to him. He felt the pull toward her, too, and with their eyes locked, he moved in, leaning closer. Closer. Almost there.

"Hey, schmucks!" Tucker said, turning on the light.

Olivia and Elliot moved apart quickly and their heads snapped to the door. "What, Tucker?" Olivia asked, harshly.

Tucker smirked. "Time to get moving. We're gonna have fun, today!"

Elliot gritted his teeth. "I think we were just about to have fun, actually," he whispered to Olivia.

She chuckled and nudged him. "What are we doing, exactly?" she asked, getting off the bed.

Tucker smirked and narrowed his eyes. "Either of you ever seen a dead body?"

* * *

"That's disgusting," Elliot said, watching the medical examiner poke and prod the sliced up corpse lying on the slab in front of them.

Tucker shook his head. "Wimp," he mumbled. "Pay attention. Benson, go."

Olivia glared at Tucker, then turned to the body and the medical examiner. "Okay," she said on a sigh as she looked at the girl. "Other than the obvious stab wounds? Um, bruising around the neck suggests strangulation. Asphyxiation. Whatever."

"With what?" Tucker prodded.

Olivia shot him a harsh look. "Ask the fucking M.E. She's right there!"

"I'm asking you, Miss...Benson! Answer!" Tucker spat, avoiding calling her "Missy." He softened his harsh glare for a moment. She really was beautiful. Tragic, broken, and a pain in the ass, but beautiful. He shook his head and reminded himself that he hated her, and that she was just a kid.

Olivia heaved another sigh and stepped closer to the dead body. "There are clear hand impressions. You can see the faint outlines of fingers. But theirs a pattern in the marks. Gloves, not fingerprints. Leather, maybe?"

"Impressive," Tucker mumbled to himself. "Damn," he spat in a harsh whisper.

Elliot heard him and chuckled. He looked at Olivia and felt something slightly familiar. Something he'd only felt when his daughter did something new, or said a new word. Pride. "Nice, Benson," he said, smirking at her.

"Well, you rocked the last one," Olivia said, glancing at him with a small smile.

"How many more bodies do we have to look at?" Elliot asked, running a hand down his face. "This is painful," he added.

Tucker turned to him and through gritted teeth he said, "As many as I want you to, you little piece of..."

"Tucker," Olivia said, sounding fierce, "Watch how you talk to my partner, there, pal. We've already established that I can make you cry."

Elliot and Tucker snapped their heads toward her. She looked pissed. She meant business. Elliot had never been more turned on in his life, and the fact that she just defended him made his heart swell. Tucker, however, narrowed his eyes.

"Did you just threaten me, Benson?" Tucker asked, seething.

"No," Olivia said with a smirk. "I don't make threats, Tucker. I make promises." She darted her eyes to Elliot's and added, still smirking, "And I keep them."

**A/N: Next: How do Elliot and Olivia interact at school, what will their friends say, and Olivia meets Maureen. Thank you for the amazing response to this story! =) It means so much to me. **


	3. The Tension Mounts

**A/N: School is whole new world, now. Does Maureen like Olivia? And what happens when Tucker forces Olivia and Elliot to fight? **

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and its characters. TStabler© owns the narrative, dialogue, and plot of this story.**

"Hey," Elliot said as he sat in his chair in Math.

Olivia, pretty sure he wasn't talking to her, ignored him, choosing to focus on the many ways, she had recently learned, she could break the teacher's neck if she needed to.

"Hello," Elliot said, "Earth to Olivia!"

Olivia shook her head and turned to look at him. "Hi," she said, raising an eyebrow. "You're talking to me?"

"Uh, yeah," Elliot said, raising his eyebrow right back at her. "Friends talk."

Olivia gave him a flat smirk. "Your friends don't talk to my friends, Elliot."

"I'm not asking my friends to talk to your friends," Elliot said, smirking. "Doesn't mean we can't talk to each other, does it?"

Olivia slumped a little in her seat, still looking into his perfectly blue eyes. "No," she said. "It doesn't."

Elliot smiled and nodded at her as he said, "Good, because I really like talking to you."

Olivia had to turn away. She couldn't let him see that he'd just made her blush.

The class flew by, thanks to hidden glances and secret note-passing to each other. As they walked through the hallway together, though, things got weird.

"Hey! Stabler!" a kid in a basketball jersey yelled, giving Elliot a high-five. "What's goin' on, man?" he asked. Then he turned toward Olivia, who was giving him an icy expression. "Who is this fine female specimen?" he asked, licking his lips. "Introduce me to my future ex-girlfriend, Stabler."

Olivia's eyebrows shot up. Elliot's brow furrowed, evilly, as he said, "Greg Hunter, this is Olivia Benson. She's my…uh, well, she's, um, mine."

"Nice," Greg said, nodding his approval as he eyes Olivia up and down. "Very nice. You, if you don't me saying so, are one hot chick."

"I do mind," Olivia said, her eyes now narrow.

"So do I, actually," Elliot said. "I know she's hot, Greg. Back off."

Greg chuckled. "Well, uh, Olivia was it? If you ever get tired of Stabler, here, Hotel Hunter is open for business, and there's a vacancy just waiting for you."

Olivia suppressed the urge to gag. "I'd rather stay in the Bates Motel," she mumbled.

Elliot laughed, hearing her, and they watched Greg saunter back down the hall. "He's a really nice guy, once you get to know him," Elliot said, chuckling.

"I'll take your word for it," Olivia said. She looked up at him and saw him smiling at her. "So, uh, I'm your…what now?" she asked with a smirk.

"I, uh, I dunno," Elliot said, pouting. "I guess I just got…I didn't want him to think he could just walk up to you and hit on you."

"You got jealous?" Olivia asked, leaning up against the lockers as she opened hers.

Elliot scoffed. "No, I did not get…okay, yeah, maybe. A little. But, I mean, do I really have a right to? No. So let's just forget about it."

Olivia smirked and held in a chuckle as she slammed her locker closed. "Don't get all pissy about it, Stabler."

"I'm not, Benson," Elliot said, sounding pissy. He stormed off down the hall toward his own locker.

Olivia laughed, seeing him get all worked up, and she rested a hand on his shoulder. "Elliot, if some random girl came up right now and hit on you, I'd probably hit her."

Elliot looked at her with a raised brow and he smirked. "Is that so?" he asked, smugly.

"Yeah," Olivia said, seriously.

Elliot slammed his locker shut and looked at Olivia, smirking as he asked, "Hey, uh, do you wanna go to the…"

"Elliot!" a squeaky voice called. A pretty redhead ran up to him, wrapping her arms around him. "How are you?" she asked, looking annoyed when Elliot pushed her away.

Olivia, cracking her knuckles, said, "He's fine, Barbie."

Elliot, sensing the rage building in Olivia's voice, said, "Uh, Jen, this is Olivia."

"Wow," Jen said, dropping her eyes and scowling. "You've really traded down, Elliot. Anyway, the annual…"

"What did you just say?" Olivia asked, snipping.

"I was talking to Elliot," Jen said, rolling her eyes.

Olivia moved, but Elliot caught her. "Okay, Benson," he said, holding her back. "Don't attack the cheerleader," he said with a laugh. "You weren't kidding, huh?" he asked, looking her in the eyes, smirking.

"I guess not," Olivia said, calming down in his hold, realizing that she really liked the way his arms felt around her.

"Jen," Elliot said, still smirking, "You should probably go."

"Whatever," Jen said, giving Olivia a dirty look as she walked away.

Elliot, still not loosening his grip on Olivia, looked deeply into her eyes, moved closer, feeling his breath hitch, and as they were about to kiss, the way he'd wanted to since they met, the bell rang.

"Bye, El," Olivia said, blinking quickly. She shook her head and walked into her next class.

Elliot, watching her go, said, to no one, "Later, Liv." Then he furrowed his brow. "Liv?" he asked himself, pondering. Then he smiled as he headed off to his class. "I like it."

* * *

As the last bell rang, Olivia, in her gym clothes, limped down the hall to her locker. "I feel like I have been run over by a steamroller," she mumbled.

Nicole, walking next to her, said, "Well, if you ask anyone else, you_ were_ the steamroller. You are fucking fast, Olivia."

Olivia's head dropped to her locker. Her eyelids drooped. "Yeah," she said. "I know."

"Who is that and why is he coming over here?" Nicole asked, fixing her hair and reapllying her chapstick as she caught sight of someone heading their way. "Stand up straight, Olivia. He's looking at you."

"Bite me, Nicole," Olivia said. "I don't care if Tom Cruise is looking at me, I feel horrible."

"But you look beautiful," Elliot's voice said, reaching her ears.

Olivia turned her head, still attached to the front of her locker, and said, "Hey, El. I don't think I can…" her head popped up, she straightened, and she smirked. "And who are you?" she asked, brightly, looking at the little girl in Elliot's arms.

"Liv, uh, this is Maureen," Elliot said, cheerfully. "Mo, honey, can you say 'Hi?' Can you say, 'Hi, Olivia'?"

The little blonde haired, blue-eyed, angel-faced child lifted her little hand and waved it, at herself though, as she said, "Hi!" loudly. "Hi, Owif!"

"And…that's as far as we get," Elliot said, laughing. "She's only two," he said with a light shrug.

Olivia's eyes brightened. "She's beautiful," she said, smiling. "She has your eyes. Don't you, Maureen? You have Daddy's eyes, huh?"

The little girl giggled and hid her face in Elliot's shoulder. "Oh, she's gonna play peek-a-boo with you now, watch," Elliot said. Sure enough, Maureen popped her little head back to look at Olivia and she let out a squealing laugh.

"Oh, well, I happen to be very good at this game," Olivia said, walking around Elliot and ducking behind his back. She popped up with a goofy smile, as Maureen looked over her father's shoulder, and the little girl laughed loudly. "She's really beautiful, El."

"Yes, she is," Elliot said. "I wanted you to meet her. I think you and I are gonna be spending a lot of time together, and I didn't want her to be afraid of you or anything. She likes you, Liv. I've never see her play with someone so easily before."

Maureen laughed as Olivia popped up from behind Elliot's shoulder again. "She's amazing," Olivia said as she turned and smiled at him.

"Thanks," Elliot said, returning her smile.

"Elliot," a woman called from down the hall. "Come on, now. We have to go."

"That's my mother," he said, rolling his eyes. "She's gonna take Mo while we're…" he caught Nicole's surprised and bewildered expression. "Working," he finished, unsure of what else to call it in front of other people.

"Olivia," Nicole said, watching her walk away with Elliot and his daughter, "You need to call me later. I want an explanation!"

* * *

"Sometimes," Tucker said, pacing in the gym, "A perp will attack you using his bare hands. Without a weapon, you need to be able to fight him off with your body. Hand-to-hand combat. Knowing how to throw a punch, and how to take one."

"Are you forgetting why I'm even here?" Olivia asked, snidely. "I'm pretty damn sure I can take a few hits, and you know I can throw a punch."

Tucker turned his head toward her and glared. "Yes, Benson," he said. "But you aren't trained to do it properly. To use the most amount of force, with the least amount of energy, for the maximum amount of damage to your opponent."

Olivia looked around, confused. "Where are the bags, Tucker?"

Tucker laughed and replied, "Stabler is the bag, Benson. He is your punching bag, just as you are his. Punching bags don't fight back, and you need to train with someone who does. We'll begin with the rules."

"Is rule number one 'Don't talk about fight club'?" Elliot asked, folding his arms.

"Shut up, Stabler," Tucker spat. "First rule, do not hit each other in the face. The last thing we need is to send you back to school looking like you beat the shit out of each other."

"Well, isn't that what we're doing?" Olivia asked, rolling her eyes. Elliot chuckled, next to her, and gave her a nudge with his elbow.

Tucker shot her a look, silencing her, and said, "Second rule, no hitting below the belt. You know what I mean. This is just a training session. I don't want any actual injuries, here." He glared at Olivia, letting her know he was talking to her. "Last rule, if at any time you want to stop fighting, say so. If your opponent says 'stop,' then you fucking stop. Clear?"

"Crystal," Olivia said.

"Yeah," Elliot replied.

Tucker moved to leave but turned and said, "Stabler, don't hold back. A perp wouldn't. She needs to learn how to take it." He turned his head again and walked through the doors.

"He's just gonna leave?" Elliot asked.

Olivia smirked. "If he's gone, then I guess we don't have to do this."

"Yes, you do," they heard his voice say over a loudspeaker. "I can hear you. Ready?" he asked.

Elliot and Olivia looked at each other, exhaled, and took a stance, bending their knees. "Yeah," Elliot said. "I guess we are."

"Go," Tucker yelled, and a beep sounded. Neither Olivia nor Elliot moved. "Go, dammit!" he yelled. "Don't make me come in there!"

Olivia moved first, nailing a soft punch to Elliot's stomach. It didn't phase him. He knew she wasn't really trying, but if they had to do this, then he had to fight with her. "Is that all you got, Benson?" he teased.

"Excuse me?" Olivia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Elliot smirked. "You heard me, Benson. If I can't hold back, neither can you," he said, narrowing his eyes as he bent down, leaning toward her. "You afraid I'll hurt you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you are asking for it," Olivia chuckled, low and throaty, threateningly.

"Yeah, Liv," Elliot said, sounding almost seductive. "I am."

Olivia lunged, bending a bit as she kicked his legs out from under him. She laughed as he fell, flat on his back, to the floor.

Elliot reached up and grabbed her ankle, pulling it roughly, making her do the same thing. He chuckled as she landed next to him with a thud. He got himself to his feet, glaring down at her. "Need a hand?" he asked, holding one out for her.

"No," Olivia said, getting up on her own and slapping his arm out of the way. She punched him again, in the stomach, as hard as she could, and that time he felt it. He hunched over for a moment, then straightened up and reached for her, nailing a solid blow to her stomach. This went on, each of them punching and blocking, avoiding the face and sensitive lower regions, for almost an hour. Wanting to end it, Olivia shot another blow toward Elliot, but he moved.

Elliot grabbed her and spun her around. "Had enough?" he asked, holding Olivia against him in a rigid choke hold.

"No," Olivia said as she closed her eyes and gulped, trying to catch her breath. She felt him, rock hard, pushing against her ass and the small of her back. She wanted him. No, she needed him. And from the feel of him against her, the feeling was mutual. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get the dirty thoughts of him out of her mind. She grabbed his arm, the one holding her across her shoulders, then stepped on his left foot, and elbowed him in the stomach.

"Jesus, Liv," Elliot said, his grip loosening as the pain ripped through him.

Olivia turned and gave him a shove, backing him up against the wall. She took a step closer, her breath ragged, and she looked at him, daring him to make a move.

Silence.

Nothing was heard but shallow, hard, breathing, and the pounding of their hearts, as they stared into each other's eyes.

Every nerve in her body was screaming. Every hair on his body was standing straight up. What the hell was going on?

"Fuck this shit," Elliot finally said, reaching out a hand and pulling Olivia toward him. He wrapped one arm around her waist as the other shot to the back of her head, forcing her lips into his.

Olivia was stunned, stiff, until she felt his tongue run lightly over her bottom lip. She relaxed, falling into him. Her hands ran up his now bruised, sore body, coming to rest on his shoulders as the kiss deepened.

"Hey!" Tucker's voice blared. "Why am I not hearing anything in there?"

Elliot chuckled against Olivia's lips, pulling her tighter to him. The hand that had been resting on her back slid down and cupped her ass, and he pulled her closer, bucking his hips into hers, forcing her to feel how much he wanted her.

Olivia moaned.

"What the hell was that?" Tucker asked. "That didn't sound painful!"

"We're not fighting anymore," Olivia yelled into the air. Then she looked back at Elliot, his eyes were soft, almost loving. "This has to be wrong," she whispered, nibbling on his lower lip, rolling her hips into his.

Elliot's eyes fluttered shut and he groaned, then he brought both arms to meet around her waist and looked at her. "Liv," he said, "I think this is the only part about this entire fucked up thing that's actually right." He smiled at her, seeing her smile at him, and bent his head forward to kiss her again.

Cragen, from the doorway, chuckled. It had only been a week. They were ahead of schedule.

**A/N: Next chapter: they get their first case a little early, a real fight breaks out between Olivia and Elliot, and what else could Tucker possible do to them? And what was Elliot trying to ask Olivia?**


	4. Thrown In

**A/N: What exactly are they being trained to do? They find out. Too soon. What's Tucker's next trick? And what makes Elliot and Olivia fight? How do they make up?**

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and its characters. TStabler© owns the narrative, dialogue, and plot of this story.**

"Who is he?" Nicole asked, as she and Olivia left the gym.

"Who's who?" Olivia asked in return. She knew exactly who Nicole was talking about, but she didn't know how to answer that question. He wasn't her boyfriend, he wasn't even her friend, really. He was her partner, for some stupid job that she was forced to take, whom she made out with once during a training session, and who she hasn't really talked to outside of training since, out of fear and embarrassment.

"You know who, Olivia," Nicole spat. "Tall, hunky, gorgeous, blue-eyed…"

"Elliot," Olivia said, needing to stop her. "His name's Elliot." She closed her eyes and swallowed. She was practically swooning as Nicole described him. She was halfway down the hall, still thinking about his blue eyes, when a scream rang through the air. She, for a moment, thought about ignoring it. It was probably Tucker testing their reaction time again. But her instincts, when she heard a second scream, made her run. She left Nicole in the middle of the hallway, looking confused and scared, as she pushed through the crowd of students to follow the screams. She saw Elliot out of the corner of her eye, running from the opposite direction, and she pushed herself harder. Was he her partner or her competition? Tucker said he was both.

It didn't matter who ran faster, they reached the bathroom door at the same time and burst through it together.

"What the fuck?" a young man yelled, picking his head up to look at them.

Elliot's eyes widened as he saw the scene before him. The girl's cheerleading uniform was ripped and she was pinned to the floor, underneath the boy's strong body. He had one hand prepared to rip her bra off and the other pressed firmly over her mouth. Elliot knew what he just interrupted, and he was pissed off. "Greg! What the hell, man?" he yelled.

"Stabler, man, just get outta here," Greg Hunter spat. "This doesn't concern you, pal. Get out, and take your fuck-buddy with you!"

"I can't do that, Greg," Elliot said, reaching for his gun. "Get off of her," he said.

Greg laughed. "Man, you don't know what this is. She likes it rough," he said, smirking. "We're just having a good time. Right, Jenny, baby? I bet you two go at it hard like this. Just by looking, I can tell Olivia likes it when it hurts."

Olivia pulled her gun out, aiming it, cocking it, and glared at Greg. "Get. Off. Of. Her," she commanded.

Greg's eyes popped as he stared at her. "What the hell? You have a gun? In school?"

"Yeah," Olivia said, smirking. "I have handcuffs, too."

"Kinky," Greg snipped, getting to his feet. He took a step toward Olivia, but was grabbed by Elliot, who had whipped out his own cuffs. "Hey, man! What the hell?"

Olivia looked at Elliot, nervously, and nodded. She holstered her gun and ran over to comfort and console the girl on the floor, who had scooted back into a corner as soon as she could move. Elliot slapped the cuffs on Greg, cinching them tightly around his wrists, and began reading him his rights.

"Hold on," Greg said, furrowing his brow and craning his neck to look at Elliot. "Are you serious right now? You're a fucking Narc?"

Elliot laughed. "No! Narcs are undercover cops stationed in high schools to prevent the sale and use of drugs," he explained. "I'm here to stop bastards like you, Greg." Elliot pulled Greg out of the bathroom, knocking his head into the door on the way. "Oh, sorry," he said, smirking. "That hurt?" he asked, not really caring if it did or not. He dragged Greg into the main office and threw him in a chair, then pulled out his cell phone and called Captain Cragen and Tucker. He only hoped he and Olivia did the right thing.

* * *

"What did the girl say?" Cragen asked, pacing back and forth in an empty classroom. Olivia and Elliot were standing, arms folded, up against the wall while Tucker smugly sat in the teacher's seat, behind the desk. He was very sure the two rookies were going to get reamed out for this, and he was waiting for the show to start.

"Answer? Anyone?" Cragen asked, getting louder.

Olivia sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She pulled out her phone and pressed the icon, opening up her memo pad, and cleared her throat. "She was washing her hands and heard the door open. She thought it was one of her friends so she turned to say hi, and she saw that it was Greg. She said he looked angry, almost evil. She told him to go away, and that's when he…"

"What are you doing?" Tucker asked, furrowing his brow.

"Uh, I'm reading the girl's statement," Olivia said, holding up her phone.

Cragen chuckled, folding his arms. "You took her statement on your phone?"

"Well, I didn't really grab a notebook and a pen on my way to find where the blood-curdling screams were coming from," Olivia said, rolling her eyes.

"Damn, Benson," Cragen said, narrowing his eyes.

Tucker rubbed his hands together. Olivia had broken protocol and procedure, and she was in for it. He couldn't wait.

Cragen sighed and looked at Olivia, who was still holding out her phone, and said, "You're a genius. E-mail that to me."

Tucker stood up and yelled, "What? That's…Sir, she violated…"

"Tucker, she did what she had to do. They both did," Cragen said, sternly. "They've got their own rules, Tucker, and some of ours don't apply to them. You know this."

Elliot leaned over to Olivia and asked, softly, "Do you know the rules, yet?"

"Nope," Olivia answered as she hit the send button on her phone.

Cragen looked at Elliot, then Olivia, then said, "You did good. Both of you. This is your case now. Your names are on it. I'm gonna head back and talk to Hunter. Keep your cell phones on, and if you get in trouble this weekend, get yourselves out of it." He turned to Tucker, nodded, and left.

"What does he mean? If we get into trouble?" Olivia asked, leaning closer to Elliot. He smelled so good.

Elliot looked at her, into the pools of chocolate he would love to swim in, and said, "No clue, Liv."

"You two," Tucker yelled, pointing at them, "Let's go. You have a long weekend ahead of you." He led Olivia and Elliot out of the room, down the hall, and out of the school. He ushered them into a van, and they drove for an hour, without stopping.

"Hey, Tucker," Olivia said, grumpily, "Wherever we're heading better have a bathroom."

"Yeah, man," Elliot agreed, "I gotta pee."

Tucker snickered and scoffed. "You should have gone before we left the house," he teased.

"Yeah, I still hate you," Olivia said, looking out the window.

"Feeling's mutual, Benson," Tucker snapped. He pulled to a stop, turned to them, and said, "Get out."

Elliot looked at him, cockeyed. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Get out," Tucker repeated. "Through the woods, follow the path to a cabin. Have fun in hell."

Olivia, tired and aggravated, opened her door and got out, heading into the woods. Elliot jumped out of the car and caught up to her. "Hey," he said when he reached her.

"Hey," she replied. "What do you think this is about?"

Elliot shrugged. "I think Cragen said something about using problem solving and logic."

"Are they training us to be cops or fucking Marines?" Olivia huffed, walking up the steps to the cabin. "A combination lock? Are you fucking kidding me?" She twirled the knob in her hands for a moment and then looked at Elliot. "When's your birthday?" she asked.

"October twentieth," Elliot said. "Eighty-six," he added.

Olivia shook her head. "That won't work. The numbers only go up to sixty. When's Tucker's?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Elliot spat. "I'm not friends with that asshole."

Olivia drummed her fingers on her thigh, then smirked. She turned the knob three times and heard a click, then pulled the lock off of the door.

"Holy shit, Liv," Elliot said, shocked. "How did you...what was it?"

"SVU," she said. "I used numbers instead of the letters. Twenty, twenty-three, twenty-two." She pushed open the cabin door and held it for him.

"Like Cragen said," Elliot began, "You're a genius. Fucking hell, it's freezing in here!"

Olivia instantly wrapped her arms around herself, and walked toward the couch, where two black duffle bags waited for them. "El," she said, holding up a note attached to one of the bags. "Hey worms, enjoy your stay in the safe-house from hell. No heat, no hot water. The bags contain enough clothes for the weekend, if you're smart about it. The point is to survive as you might have to do during a stakeout or sting op. Good night and good luck. Yours truly, Tucker," she read. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What does he mean if we're smart about it?" Elliot asked, opening his duffle bag. "Two shirts, one pair of black jeans, and…okay, uh, one pair of black boxer-briefs," he said. "And one pair of flannel pants. At least my legs will be warm when I sleep."

Olivia opened hers and laughed. "I'm gonna fucking kill him," she said. "Like you, I have one pair of underwear, no bras. And I seriously doubt this," she said, holding up a long tee-shirt, "Is gonna keep me warm. At least it's large enough to sleep in."

"Speaking of sleep," Elliot said, looking around, "There's only one bedroom."

"Well, then, I think you and the couch are gonna be good friends," Olivia said, carrying her duffle bag into the bedroom.

Elliot followed her and yelled, "Me? Why do I have to sleep on the couch?"

"You're the guy," Olivia said, raising her eyebrows. "You're supposed to give the bed to the lady."

"If I find a lady that needs a bed, then I'll sleep on the damn couch," he spat.

"Are you telling me you don't think I'm a lady?" Olivia yelled, folding her arms.

Elliot chuckled. "You may be a woman, Liv, but you're not a lady," he told her, smirking. "You curse like a fucking sailor, you can beat me up, and you happen to be very opinionated. So I think you're a bitch, not a lady."

"I'm a bitch now?" Olivia spat, her arms folded.

"When you have to be, yeah," Elliot barked, "Just like I can be a real prick sometimes. I'm not sleeping on the damn couch. So, either you get your hot little ass out there or we find a way to…"

Olivia shook her head and furrowed her brow, unsure of whether or not she heard him correctly. "I'm sorry," she interrupted. "Hot little ass? Who the fuck are you, now? Tucker?"

"Oh, damn it, Liv," Elliot spat. "I was trying to…I was teasing…I didn't…why the fuck are we fighting?"

"Because you won't sleep on the couch," Olivia said, matter-of-factly. She looked away from him, then looked around the room for a moment. Her eyes focused on the mattress. "It's a pretty big bed," she mumbled.

Elliot smirked. "Yeah, it is," he said. He dropped his own duffle bag to the floor, taking the flannel pants out of it, and said, "I'm gonna change, uh, do you wanna see if they left us food?"

Olivia nodded, trying not to smirk at the thought of him getting undressed, and she walked out into the kitchen. She opened all of the cabinets and the refrigerator and then walked back into the bedroom. "We only have…" she paused, seeing Elliot shirtless, the way he'd been in the tree house. She swallowed, supressing the urge to pounce on him.

"Yeah?" Elliot prodded.

Olivia cleared her throat. "We have five boxes of macaroni and cheese, a half-gallon of milk, and microwavable pizza."

"That's it?" Elliot asked, walking toward her.

Olivia backed up, not trusting herself with him, and said, "Yeah. Pretty much it."

"Well, uh," Elliot said, resisting the urge to kiss her, "You get changed. I'll go make macaroni and cheese."

Olivia changed and walked out of the bedroom, tugging and yanking on the tee-shirt. It hit the middle of her thighs, but she felt very exposed. And very cold.

"Wow," Elliot said, turning to look at her. He had two bowls of food in his hands and almost dropped them. "That's, uh, that's a cute shirt."

"Shut up," Olivia snapped, tugging on the hem of the shirt again.

"Here," Elliot said, handing her a bowl. "So, what do you wanna talk about," he asked. "Besides the fact that it's freezing in here and we're both half naked. We should talk." He led her over to the couch and they sat, eating.

Olivia scooped a spoonful of macaroni into her mouth, then looked up and said, "All right."

"And don't talk about tacos or Tom Cruise," he said, with a mouthful.

"I don't plan on it," Olivia said, smirking. "How about we talk about what happened in the gym on Monday?"

Elliot choked on his macaroni. "Well, uh, I think you cracked one of my ribs."

"Not the fighting," Olivia said, her eyes suddenly narrow, peering into his.

"Oh," Elliot said, swallowing his food, and his pride. "That was one hell of a kiss, huh?" he chuckled, trying to avoid the real question.

Olivia never dropped her eyes. "Why did you kiss me?"

Stunned, and not willing to admit he had feelings for her, because he didn't know if he was allowed to, he began. "Liv, I…"

"And when did you start calling me 'Liv?" Olivia asked, interrupting.

"The same time you starting calling me, 'El," he replied, smirking. "And I kissed you, Liv, because you were looking at me, and your eyes were so…" he closed his own eyes, trying to remember that look. "God, you looked gorgeous. And we were fighting, and it was tense, and it wasn't tense just because we were fighting," he mumbled, opening his eyes. "I wanted to kiss you. I wanted you to kiss me. I…shit, I still wanna kiss you, Liv."

Olivia nodded. "That's all I wanted to know," she said, looking into her bowl. "Because it was probably the best kiss of my life and I can't stop thinking about it."

"Oh, God," Elliot sighed, relieved. "Me either. You don't know what this week was like, Liv. I didn't know if we were supposed to forget it happened, I didn't know if you were mad at me or not, and I didn't know how to tell you that…I like you. And I don't know if I'm breaking the fucking rules or not."

Olivia laughed and smiled at him. "I like you, too, El. More than like, actually."

"Well, uh," Elliot stuttered, "Good then. We're on the same page."

"What are we gonna do about it?" Olivia asked, looking into his eyes.

Elliot licked his lips, leaned closer to her, and said, "This," as he kissed her again. The macaroni and cheese was quickly forgotten as they wrapped their arms around each other, deepening the kiss, exploring each others mouths and bodies. Elliot had just leaned forward enough to get Olivia to lie back on the couch. His hands had just skimmed up her shirt, ready to do more exploring, when both of their cell phones chirped.

Olivia groaned, unwilling to stop. "Why?" she whined.

"It's probably Tucker wondering if we've killed each other yet," Elliot quipped, reaching for his phone. He gave Olivia another kiss before answering. "Hello?" he greeted. "Well how the hell was I supposed to know that? Whatever, man, just tell me… oh, shit."

Olivia answered her own phone. "Hel…what? Okay, then. Next time I will, sorry I didn't read the 'How to answer your phone' part of the rules. Or…any of them…but what is the…oh, my God!"

They both hung up. Then they looked at each other. Elliot kissed her forehead then said, "We should get dressed, then."

"Yeah," Olivia said. "Who's coming back for us?" she asked as they got off of the couch and headed into the bedroom.

"Detective Munch. John. Whatever his name is," Elliot said, pulling on his shirt. "I guess we're being thrown into the pool without our swimmies."

Olivia chuckled, turning away so Elliot could change his pants. "Seems like it. Are you gonna be okay? I mean, he's your friend…"

"I'm fine. I just wanna know how and why Tucker let him go," Elliot interrupted. "It's you I'm worried about. Wasn't she…"

"Yeah," Olivia said, nodding. "We don't get to pick the vic, remember?"

Elliot chuckled. "Thought you didn't read the rules," he quipped.

"Cragen told us that, Tuesday," Olivia said, pulling on her jeans. She grabbed her badge and looked at it, solemnly. "I guess this really is our life now," she said, clipping the badge to her hip.

Elliot, holding his gun in his hand, said, "I guess so." He leaned over and kissed her, finding a bit of comfort in the madness. And as they waited for someone to pick them up, they kissed, hoping to put off having to deal with the rape and murder of Nicole Randall, and the imminent interrogation and conviction of Greg Hunter.

**A/N: Oh, what now? How will they handle they first actual case? What will Tucker do to them since he can't lock them up for the weekend? And will they ever get to go on an actual date?**


	5. They Certainly Are

**A/N: How do they handle an actual case? What is their new assignment? And when they get moved into a new pad, it's quite a BIG surprise.**

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and its characters. TStabler© owns the narrative, dialogue, and plot of this story.**

Olivia knelt over the body of her friend, Nicole, and tried like hell to stay professional. "She's a twin," Olivia said, softly, to the medical examiner. "Someone should call her sister."

"I think that's your job, Detective," the man said, scraping under Nicole's nails.

"I'm not a detective," Olivia spat, harshly. "I'm not even a fucking...whatever," she muttered. She stood, wiped her eyes, and looked over at the captain. "I really should have taken my chances in jail," she yelled at him. "This bites."

"You'll get used to it," Tucker yelled, folding his arms.

Olivia shook her head and looked back down at Nicole. "She was always so full of life," she whispered. "Now she's just so...dead."

"We'll get the bastard, Liv," Elliot said, cracking his knuckles. "I promise you, we will."

The medical examiner looked up, and asked, "Detective Benson, we have fluids."

"Stop calling me 'detective'," Olivia told him, "And I really didn't need to know that."

"Well, you did, actually," Tucker said, walking over to Olivia and Elliot. "And get used to being called 'detective,' guys. Anyone who works with you will call you that. With good reason. Did either of you read your contract before you signed it?"

He was met with silence.

"So you don't know the fucking rules, and you don't even know what you signed up for," tucker said, bitterly. "Dumb fucking kids. Jesus, just get in the car. I will explain on the way home."

"Home?" Olivia asked, furrowing her brow as she followed Tucker to the van.

"Your new home. Both of you. And your kid, Stabler," Tucker said. "For the remaining seventeen weeks, you'll be staying in an NYPD-owned building."

"With my daughter?" Elliot asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You got full custody of her, as per your agreement. That starts now," Tucker said, getting into the driver's seat. "Your mother will pick her up every morning at six, and return her to you every night at eight, if you're not busy. If you are, your mother will keep her. She'll be safe."

Elliot shook his head. "Shit, you actually stuck to the damn deal."

"We're the cops, Stabler," Tucker barked. "Of course we did!" He pulled out onto the expressway and looked into the rear-view mirror. "You're on this case, both of you. You need to stay on top of the things going on in that school, and you have to keep your jobs under wraps. The administration knows who you are, but the other students do not find out, unless you have to arrest or help them. Got it?"

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other and nodded. "Got it," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. "Like I really want anyone to know about this," she mumbled.

"Hey, uh, Tucker," Elliot said, leaning forward. "Are we getting paid for this shit?"

"Everything you need," Tucker said, tossing them each a black wallet, "Is being provided for you. You'll get a hundred dollars a week, in cash, and you'll find two credit cards in your wallets. One doubles as a bank card, good at any ATM. Your pins are your birthdays. This is how we pay you, until you start really working, for an actual paycheck. Your place is fully furnished, and someone will restock the food every Friday."

Olivia leaned forward. "You meant places," she said, hopeful. "Our places are fully furnished."

"No, I didn't Benson," Tucker snapped. "You're staying together. You're partners. You can not let your partner out of your sight and you always have their back, that was rule number...oh, right. You didn't read the rules." He shook his head. "Dumb little bitch," he mumbled.

"Hey!" Elliot yelled. "Apologize," he said, pulling his gun on Tucker.

"Woah, easy kid," Tucker said, nervously, driving faster. "Damn, Stabler. Sorry! Sorry," he said. "She's a very intelligent bitch," Tucker said, smirking.

Elliot uncocked the gun, and slipped it back into his holster, as he said, "Damn right she is."

"We're here," Tucker said, stopping the van. "Home sweet home, worms. And Stabler, if you ever pull your gun on me again, I'll pull mine. I'm a faster shot."

Olivia scoffed. "I'm faster than both of you, Tucker. Pull your gun on him and certain body parts will be blown off of you before you can even cock the trigger."

"Well," Tucker said, clearing his throat, "Seems you're already good with rule number one."

* * *

"This place is ridiculous," Elliot declared, walking into the kitchen to search for food. "I mean, really ridiculous."

"No," Olivia said, shaking her head as she stepped out into the living room. "What's ridiculous is there are only two bedrooms, and one of them is your daughter's. Big girl bed, crib and playpen and everything."

"I'm still not sleeping on the couch," Elliot chuckled.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I wasn't going to suggest that, El. I'm a bit confused, though. This is the second time they've done this. It's like they're purposely making us sleep together." She cleared her throat and folded her arms, realizing what she said. "In the same room, I mean."

Elliot shrugged. "They probably are, Liv. We're not supposed to leave each other alone. Never let your partner out of your sight, remember?" He stepped closer to her, reached out a hand, and pulled her toward him. "Besides, Liv. I think we can help keep each other very, very warm." He smiled at her as he leaned in to kiss her.

Olivia's heart stopped as his lips touched hers, and pounded like a jackhammer when he wrapped his arms around her and licked her bottom lip. She, for a reason she didn't even understand, let him in, deepening the kiss. She hesitated, then kissed him back, eagerly wrapping her own hands around his neck. She was almost positive she shouldn't be doing this, but when did Olivia Benson ever follow rules?

Elliot had just snaked his hand under Olivia's shirt, reaching up her back, moaning at the feel of her smooth skin, when his phone rang. "Fucking hell," he mumbled against her lips. "Every time, man," he chuckled, annoyed.

Olivia's phone bleeped, too, and she reached into her pocket to answer it. "Hel...Benson," she said, remembering the "proper" way to answer the phone. "What? No, no she didn't. That's insane. She would have told...yeah. Okay. I'll find out tomorrow. Thanks," she spat, flipping her phone shut.

Elliot flipped his closed at the same time, and looked at Olivia. "Who was that?" he asked her.

"Medical examiner," Olivia sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Yours?"

"Cragen," Elliot said, biting his lip. "Maureen's staying with my mom tonight. Oh, and he said we should get to sleep. We have to be up at five. Tucker's taking us to school early and wants us to run laps before..."

"Shut up! Seriously?" Olivia barked, aggravated. "Fucker," she mumbled.

Elliot rested his hand on her lower back and guided her toward the bedroom. "What did the doctor want?" he asked.

"Nicole, uh, she was pregnant. He wanted to know if I knew anything about it. I didn't," Olivia said, grabbing a pair of pajamas out of the drawer and heading for the bathroom. "She didn't even have a boyfriend," she said, sadly.

Elliot, watching her close the door to the bathroom, sighed and yelled, "I promise, baby, we'll nail Hunter's ass to the fucking wall."

In the bathroom, Olivia almost keeled over. He just called her "baby," and it made her heart stop. She finished changing and stepped out of the small washroom, then crawled into the bed. Elliot did the same and pulled her close, snuggling with her. Olivia relaxed and sighed. As sleep took her away, she smiled. She could get used to this.

* * *

By the time Tucker let them stop running, they were almost late for first period. They ran in their own directions, changed, and booked it to class just before the bell rang. Elliot would spend the day talking to his friends, asking if they knew what Greg had been doing, and if they could give him a reason for it. Olivia would talk to her friends, searching for the guy she was sure didn't exist, and asking if anyone even knew Nicole was pregnant. When they met up for Math, it was a surreal moment for them. Elliot took her hand as he met her in the hall, kissed her with a smile, and led her into the classroom. However, as they sat, they both gasped. They looked up at the teacher and paled.

"What the fuck is going on?" Elliot whispered to Olivia, still holding her hand.

Olivia dropped his hand, and blinked. "I don't know, but I think he's gonna be giving me a lot of detention. I hate him, I hate Math, and I hate..."

"Miss Benson!" Tucker yelled with a smirk. "Please, shut up."

"Please, bite me," Olivia replied smirking at him. She shook her head and slumped in her seat as she watched Tucker write some unsolvable problem on the board. "We need a babysitter now?" she whispered to Elliot.

"I guess he needs to be here, too," Elliot said with a shrug. "We can't really run this alone, can we? We're not even real cops, yet."

Olivia sighed. "Yet. I hate that word. It implies that, soon, we will be."

"I'm actually getting used to the idea of it, Liv. And, uh, I'm really getting used to watching out for you. I think I could do this job, for real, as long as you're the one I'm doing it with."

Olivia looked at him and the smile he was giving her made her shiver. He truly was gorgeous, and those eyes were amazing. "Yeah," she said. "Same here." She began writing down the problem, but said, to Elliot, "Did you find out anything useful about Hunter?"

"Yeah," Elliot said, working on the problem. "Vinnie says he knew something was up. Greg had been violent and jumpy lately. He thinks it might be steroids or some shit. Any luck getting info on Nicole?"

Olivia nodded as she began to solve the equation. "Nicole had complained to Fran about being late, but never thought she could be pregnant. She didn't have a steady boyfriend. She went out with a lot pf people, slept with three of them. We need to talk to them and we're gonna have to find a way to get a DNA sample to find the father of her baby. El, it could be Greg. She went out with him a few times. Maybe that's why he killed her. He didn't want a baby."

"That's a clear motive," Elliot said, furrowing his brow at the notebook in front of him. "Did you figure this thing out, yet? It's impossible."

"No," Olivia said, smirking. "It's not a real problem. You can't solve it." She looked up, raised her hand, and glared at Tucker.

"Yes, Miss Benson?" Tucker called, folding his arms.

"The problem's impossible to solve. You can't use imaginary numbers in a quadratic eqaution that asks you to solve for x. You're combining three different areas of..."

"Good work," Tucker interrupted. "How many of you figured that out?"

Elliot raised his hand, but no one else did.

"And how many of you are still trying to solve the thing?" Tucker asked, rolling his eyes. "That's what I thought. Your teacher warned me that most of you were a bit on the dim side. I'll be here till Friday, trying to get you all to think."

The bell rang, and everyone was filing out. Tucker stopped Olivia and Elliot before they could leave, though. "I heard you two talking," he said.

"Well," Olivia said, "Good. That means your ears work."

"Benson, I'm getting sick of your attitude. You signed up for this, meaning you have to deal with me," Tucker said, narrowing his eyes. "Get over it."

"I am over it," Olivia said. "I'm just a, what did you call me? An intelligent bitch."

Tucker rolled his eyes and handed them each a file folder. "Here," he said. "Everything you were talking about needs to be typed up and put into these files. There are how-to guides and organizational instructions inside. When you're finished, sign it. This is called a DD-five. It's a follow-up report containing all vital information regarding a case, and how you have reached your conclusion once the case is closed. You need to work on these after every case."

"Paperwork? We have homework from you, too?" Elliot asked, annoyed, flipping open the file.

"You have no idea," Tucker said, chuckling. "That's why I'm here. I'm lightening your workload at school. The faculty is very nervous about having three cops in their midst, and even more worried about pissing us off."

Olivia shut her file and looked up at Tucker. "I'm not a cop," she said.

"Yes," Tucker said, smirking. "You are, Detective Benson. You certainly are."

**A/N: Next, they dive into the investigation, and Maureen comes home! How will they all interact, and will Olivia and Elliot ever get to spend any time alone?**


	6. Unstoppable

**A/N: Maureen comes home. How does she handle life with Olivia? How does Olivia handle being a virtual mom to a two-year-old? And their first interrogation comes, the night before finals!**

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and its characters. TStabler© owns the narrative, dialogue, and plot of this story.**

"That's my mother," Elliot said, gasping as the doorbell rang. "Uh, I don't know if I should introduce you as my girlfriend. She's a little...excitable."

Olivia shrugged. "Why would you tell her I'm your girlfriend?"

Elliot looked at her funny. "Because you are!" he spat in a whisper, opening the door. "Mom!" he cried, putting on a smile. "Maury, baby," he called, scooping his little girl into his arms.

"Hello, Elliot," his mother said, peeking into the open door. "This new place is, um, quaint. It could use some personality though. What if we paint that wall over there bright red?" She spotted Olivia, standing in front of the couch. "Who is that charming young woman?"

"Oh, uh, Mom," he said, trying to stop his mother from walking in. But it was too late. His mother had walked over to Olivia, taken her by the hand, and was now gushing over her. "Mom, this is Olivia Benson. Liv, this is my mother, Bernadette Stabler."

"Bernie," his mother said brightly. "Dear, you can call me 'Bernie.' And do you go to school with my son? How long have you been seeing him? Are you Italian? You look Italian."

Olivia was taken aback by the onslaught of questions. "Uh, well, I go to school with Elliot, yes. I'm, uh, well, seeing him, I guess, yeah. I could be Italian, maybe."

"Mom, stop, would ya, huh?" Elliot asked, bouncing Maureen in his arms, making her laugh. "Leave Liv alone."

"I'm just getting to know her, Elliot," Bernie said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, you're such a sour-puss. Okay, Mo-Mo, give Nana a kiss bye-bye."

Olivia stifled a chuckle and smiled as the woman kissed her granddaughter. The little girl gave a backwards wave, and Bernie left. "Your mother is...original," Olivia said when the door was closed.

"Liv, uh, there's something you should know about her," Elliot said, carrying Maureen into her room. He set her down so she could play with her toys. He turned to Olivia and took her hand. "My mom's sick, Liv. There's something not right in her head. She paints, and she'll paint pink bananas and purple teddy bears."

"So she's creative, EL," Olivia chuckled.

"No, baby," Elliot said, sighing. "One time, she took me for a ride in my dad's new car. It was winter, it was snowing, and she was going really fast. She told me we were trying to beat the snowflakes in a race, and we needed to win or it would never snow again. The car flipped over when she hit a patch of ice, and I broke my arm. If I wasn't wearing my seatbelt, I would've died." He shook his head and then said, "And when I was eleven, she made my Halloween costume. I was a can of tuna fish, Liv. She was so proud of that stupid thing. Before I left with my brothers and sister to go trick-or-treating, she broke down in tears because she suddenly realized she made me into a can of tuna fish and felt horrible about it."

Olivia squeezed his hand. "Bipolar Disorder?"

"Yeah," Elliot said, nodding. "She thinks it just means she's, like you said, creative and 'larger than life.' She calls it 'sparkling.' She doesn't know how sick she is."

Olivia let go of his hand, then wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "I'm sorry, El," she said, leaning her head down to his.

"I just, uh, I wanted you to know, since you're going to have to deal with her. I didn't tell you that before, when we talked, and it seemed like the right time to let you know," Elliot said, tilting his head up to kiss her. There was a tug on his pant leg, at that moment, and he looked down to see Maureen holding up a pink block.

"Bok," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, pumpkin. That's a block! Good girl," Elliot praised, lifting her onto his lap. "You remember Olivia, right?"

Maureen backwards waved, and said, "Hi, Owifuh!"

Olivia laughed and smiled. "Hi, sweetie," she said, wiggling her fingers.

"Owifuh. Bok," Maureen said, holding her pink block out to Olivia. She scooted off of Elliot's lap and tugged on Olivia's pants, hinting that she wanted her to play.

"Okay, sweetie, I'll play with you," Olivia laughed.

Elliot sat, smiling, as he watched Olivia and his daughter build a pink and white block castle. He couldn't explain why, but seeing Olivia with his daughter just seemed so right.

Twenty minutes later, when the blocks became boring, Maureen pulled Olivia's pants back toward the chair her father was sitting in. She lifted her little arms toward Olivia and said, "Uppies!"

Olivia chuckled and picked her up, placing her into Elliot's lap. "There ya go, sweetie," she said, brushing the little blonde's hair back.

Maureen yawned, leaned her head on her daddy's shoulder, and grabbed one of Olivia's fingers.

"Well, someone's tired," Elliot laughed. "And someone really likes you, Liv. She's only ever held my hand like that," he told her, smiling.

"I'm glad she likes me," Olivia said, smiling back at him.

"Me, too, baby," Elliot said, unable to really let her know how much he meant it. He raised an eyebrow at Olivia, as his daughter was falling asleep in his arms. "Come here," he said, demanding it with his eyes.

Olivia moved closer, knowing what he wanted, and kissed him, sweetly and lovingly. Butterflies emerged from their cocoons in her stomach and she had to pull away. She looked down at the sleeping girl and sighed. "You should put her to bed, El."

"Yeah," Elliot said, getting out of his chair and moving over to the large crib. "And then I'm putting you to bed, Liv." He set his daughter down, turned on her mobile, turned out the light, then turned to look at Olivia. He saw the inquisitive look on her face and smirked. "Oh, yeah. It meant exactly what you thought it did, baby," he growled, lunging at her.

Olivia yelped, then laughed, then moaned at his lips found hers. She allowed him to pull her into their bedroom, close the door behind them, and lay her in the bed. They were one step closer to breaking a rule they weren't even sure existed. Their lips did not detach, not for a moment, as the clothes separating them were peeled away. Elliot carefully flattened himself over her, kissing her lovingly, feeling every inch of her underwear-clad body. Before they could really go too far, too far to turn back, Elliot's phone rang.

Elliot sighed and kissed Olivia. "It's like they fucking know," he spat, reaching for his phone. "Sorry, baby," he said, kissing her again as he flipped the phone open. "Stabler. What? When? We'll be right there. Oh! Wait, I have to call my...oh, you did? Okay, then. Uh, thanks." He snapped it shut, kissed Olivia and said, "We gotta go."

* * *

"I'm telling you, you got the wrong guy, man," Hunter spat, his arms folded as he sat at the table.

"Really?" Elliot asked, folding his own arms. "I caught you, bud. In the bathroom? Caught you with your pants down, literally. Some shit-for-brains colleague of mine let you out of his sight, and you got all of that pent up aggression out on the first girl you saw when you got outta here, that it?" he yelled, tossing photos of Nicole down on the table.

Hunter took a deep breath and swallowed. "I...I didn't do that...she...Christ. She had it coming," he sighed.

"You didn't wanna be a daddy. Is that it?" Olivia asked, stepping closer. "You found out she was having a baby, and you flipped. You didn't wanna end up like Stabler here, tied down with a kid. Connected to a girl you couldn't stand for the rest of your life. You saw what his life had become, and although it's worked out amazingly for him, you just couldn't have that."

"Do you...do you know what my father would have done to me? He would have made me...I couldn't let her ruin my life!" Hunter yelled.

"So you took hers," Elliot said, shrugging. "You got rid of the problem."

Hunter nodded. "I made her go away, but she went happy, let me tell ya! I really sent her out with a bang!"

Elliot stepped closer. "You got her, one last time, then you held your hands over her mouth and nose until she stopped moving."

"I couldn't be a father, I just couldn't," Hunter cried. "I followed her home. I grabbed her. I just wanted to talk, but she didn't wanna talk to me. She made me angry, and I guess I got carried away, but the bitch deserved it! She laughed in my face when I told her I couldn't be a father!"

"I got news for you, pal," Olivia said, tossing down a file. "You weren't going to be one. The baby wasn't yours."

Hunter picked up the file, read the information, and his eyes widened. "But I was sleeping with her!"

"So were three other guys, Hunter," Elliot said leaning closer, looking him in the eyes. "You killed two innocent people, because you thought you were the only guy she was taking to bed. You weren't faithful, Hunter. Did you really expect her to be?"

Hunter blinked. "Two people? No...but I..."

"The baby, douchebag!" Olivia yelled. "She was far enough along for it to be legally considered a person. You're going down for double homicide." She stormed out of the interrogation room and bolted out of the sqaudroom, down the hall and into the bathroom. She leaned over the sink, wet her face, and tried to catch her breath. She wasn't sure how long she was there, but when she heard the door open, she knew it was longer than she'd meant.

"Liv?" Elliot called, walking into the bathroom. "You all right, baby?"

Olivia nodded, taking another deep breath. "He killed my best friend, El."

Elliot looped an arm around her and pulled her close. "I know, baby," he whispered to her, rubbing her back.

"He killed her, and her unborn child, and I had to talk to him about it!" Olivia sobbed into his chest. "I had to look at him for over an hour. I had to listen to him lie about it for a fucking hour! I had to listen to him tell me what he did to her and..."

"Shh," Elliot soothed, rubbing her back. "I got ya, Liv. I'm right here, baby, calm down."

Olivia looked up at him, her breakdown coming to a stop, and she pleaded, "Just tell me this is gonna get easier."

"I can't, baby," Elliot said. "I told you, as your partner and your boyfriend, I will never lie to you, and I don't know if I would be if I tell you that. I don't know if it's gonna get easier, but I know it'll be more...routine. It won't be easy, but we'll get used to it. We'll get through it. As long as we stay together, Liv," he said, looking into her eyes. "Together, we're unstoppable."

Olivia nodded, taking another deep breath. "I relaly need to hear that. Thanks, Stabler," she said with a smile.

"Anytime, Benson," Elliot replied, smirking.

"Do you think we'll be unstoppable tomorrow? Taking those fucking exams?" Olivia laughed.

Elliot kissed her and chuckled. "As long as we actually study when we get home, yes."

Cragen, listening to them from outside in the hallway, grinned. "Tucker, what was that you were saying about them not being able to close this case?"

"Sorry, Captain," Tucker mumbled.

"And, what was that you were saying about them being at each other's throat now that they live together?"

Tucker sighed. "Sorry, Captain. I was wrong, they're amazing."

"Yeah," Cragen said, nodding. "When they're together. So, you know what you gotta do, right?"

Huffing, Tucker nodded and said, "Convince them they need to be together by ripping them apart. See how they handle shit alone, blah, blah, blah."

"You hurt her and I'll have your ass," Cragen said, pointing at him. "It's just a training exercise, Tucker. She follows clues to get to you, Elliot follows clues to get to her."

"I got it, Captain," Tucker said. He smirked, thinking to himself how much fun it was gonna be when he conveniently forgot to tell Elliot that it was all just an exercise.

**A/N: Uh-Oh! What will Elliot do when he has to track down Olivia? What will he do when he finds her? And what will he do when he finds out Tucker had left him out of the loop on purpose? Light smut and Angry!Elliot, that's what! If you want it!**


	7. Binding Agreement

**A/N: If there was ever a time in Elliot's life that he wanted to really kill a man, it was now.**

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns the characters. TStabler© likes to play with them. A lot. She owns the story: plot, narrative, dialogue, and stuff. Thanks!**

Elliot rolled to the side, expecting to loop his arm around his girlfriend-slash-partner, prepared to spend a few extra hours cuddling with her since it was Saturday. When his arm smoothed over nothing but flat bed, he popped up, panicked. "Liv?" he called, turning his head toward the bathroom. He looked at the clock, seeing the glowing red digits staring back at him, "5:50." He shoved the sheets down, pulled himself up out of the bed and searched the apartment. "Liv? Olivia!" he called, walking into and out of every room. He ran back into the bedroom to call Cragen, his heart pounding violently in his chest, and when he picked up his phone he saw the text message.

"What the fuck?" he mumbled to himself. "Pier nineteen, six o'clock. Come and get her," he read. "Six o'clock!" he yelped, looking at the clock. "Fuck!" He had never been more grateful that his mother had his daughter, because he ran out of the apartment with nothing but his badge, phone, and gun, leaving the door wide open behind him.

He got to the pier , panting, breathing so hard he felt like his lungs would burst, his legs felt like jelly, but it was six o'clock. On the dot. He looked around, saw nothing, no one. He heard a shuffle in the shadows, and he aimed his gun at the noise, cocking the trigger. "Hey!" he yelled, "Trust me, whoever you are, you do not wanna piss me off!"

A small child, barely nine years old, walked out from behind a stack of cargo boxes and, nervously, said, "Please, don't shoot! I was told to g-g-give this to y-y-you." The child held out a folded piece of paper.

Elliot, his eyes wide, dropped his arm to his side and took the paper with his free hand. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. He looked at the child, knelt down to get eye-level, and asked, "Who asked you to give this to me?"

"A man," the child said.

"What did he look like?" Elliot asked, his eyes stern.

"Tall. Scary," the boy cried.

Elliot shook his head and grabbed the kid's shoulders. "His eyes! What color were his eyes? Was he white? Black? What?"

The boy backed up, scared, and said, "Don't yell at me, sir! He was white. I don't know what color eyes he had. Green, I think. Or brown."

Elliot looked at the boy and sighed. "Thanks," he spat. Then he took off running, thinking of the clues left in the note. He knew there was only one place it could be, but he wasn't a real cop. They'd never let him in, or all the way up to the top.

He ran, even though he was in pain, out of breath, and pissed off, nervous, scared, and worried out of his mind. He turned down Fifth Avenue, and jetted, cutting across traffic, almost getting hit, ignoring the honking and screeching tires. He ran, faster, harder, and pushed through the revolving doors of number three-hundred-and-fifty. He breezed passed the security guards, holding up his badge. To his surprise, they didn't stop him. They didn't even try. He bounded up the steps, figuring the elevator would take too damn long and, if he stopped at all, he wouldn't have the energy to move again. He finally got to the top, burst through the door, and pushed passed the line of people waiting on the line.

He was elbowing, knocking over, squeezing in between, and even punching people. "Damn tourist attractions," he mumbled, finally getting into the glass room he was told to be in at six-fifteen. "I hate the Empire State Building," he said to the figure standing by the window. "I hate heights," he added, trying not to look out of the windows surrounding him. "Where is she?" he asked, huffing.

"Who?" the man asked, smirking.

"Madonna!" Elliot yelled. "Where's Liv?"

The man tilted his head, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Who the hell is that?"

Elliot rolled his eye, leaning over to put his hands on his knees and take a deep breath, as if it would help. "Olivia, you son of a bitch."

The man chuckled. "She's safe," he said, "For now. You're not done yet. You have to answer a few questions. What went through your mind when you woke up to find her gone?"

"My first thought? She's in the bathroom," Elliot said, still panting, his heart breaking. "My second though was…nothing. I couldn't think. There was just pure panic."

"How did you feel when you found out she was gone," the man asked, a satisfied, sadistic tone in his voice. "I mean, really gone," he said, slowly, deliberately emphasizing the word _gone._

Elliot straightened up, took a step forward, and grabbed the man's neck. "The same way you're gonna feel if I don't get her back! Dead," he spat, viciously.

"Can't…breathe…" the man gasped, clutching and pulling at Elliot's hand.

"Neither can I," Elliot said, gritting his teeth. "Haven't been able to since five-fifty this morning," he said, pushing the man into the glass behind him. "Where. Is. She?" He squeezed tighter.

The man's eyes widened. "Can't…tell you," he choked out, wheezing, "If…I'm dead."

"You're not dead," Elliot barked. "You will be, though, if you don't tell me where she is!"

The man was turning purple. He nodded. "Okay," he breathed.

Elliot dropped him to the floor, then bent down, looming over him with his gun drawn. "Just in case you decide to lie to me, or not tell me," he said, cocking the trigger. "Where is she? And I don't want another fucking clue or shit ass directions. Tell me where she is!"

"The…" he trailed off, woozy and weak.

"The what? Tucker, I will fucking kill you!" Elliot yelled.

Tucker nodded slowly. "The precinct," he finally said, softly. "She was never…"

"What?" Elliot asked harshly, interrupting.

"This was a test," Tucker said, regaining his composure. He swatted Elliot's arm away, and tried to get to his feet as he said, "Olivia was instructed to wake up an hour before you, and she had to follow the same clues you had, with the same time constraints, but she knew she was…"

Elliot interrupted, holstering his gun but grabbing Tucker's collar. "You're telling me that Liv knew about this whole thing, and I didn't?"

"Yeah," Tucker said, dejectedly, nodding.

Elliot furrowed his brow. "Why the fuck didn't she wake me…"

"She was told not to. She thought you knew," Tucker said. "I was supposed to tell you, Stabler, but I thought it would be fun to see you panic," he said, a smirk falling into place on his mouth.

Elliot smirked, too. Right before he punched Tucker, very hard, square in the nose. He heard a very satisfying crack as Tucker dropped limply to the floor, and left the room, content with the knowledge that when Tucker woke up to find his nose broken, he'd know exactly who did it.

* * *

When Elliot walked into the squadroom, he stopped, dead in his tracks, as he saw Olivia spinning in a chair behind an empty desk. "What took you so long?" she asked, smiling at him.

Elliot said nothing, he simply walked over, pulled her out of the chair, and hugged her tightly to him, so tight it felt as though he was trying to make their bodies one.

Olivia was stunned for a moment, but her arms wrapped themselves around him. She heard him choke, an attempt not to cry, and her eyes widened. "Hey," she said softly, "What's wrong?"

Elliot shook his head, not trusting himself to speak without breaking down, and squeezed tighter.

"El," Olivia said, worried, as she brushed his hair back, as if petting him, "What happened?"

"Thought you were…" he began, but needed to take a deep breath. "Thought you were hurt, I though you were in trouble! I thought that…"

"What?" Cragen barked, cutting into his speech.

Elliot turned to face his captain, controlling his emotions to appear professional in front him. He cleared his throat. "Tucker didn't tell me this was a drill. He never told me she was fine, and that I just needed to…I woke up and she was fucking gone, and I get a damn text message that says 'come and get her,' what the hell was I supposed to think? Do you what the hell was going through my mind?" He didn't realize he was yelling, he didn't realize a few tears had rolled down his cheeks, until Olivia brushed them away and turned him around to face her.

"I'm fine," Olivia said, looking into his eyes. "El, you know me. Do you honestly think I'd let anyone take me anywhere without putting up a fight? And do you really think you would have slept through the noise I'd be making?"

Elliot looked at her blankly for a moment, then dropped his forehead to hers with a defeated laugh. "I told you I panicked, Liv. I didn't think, I just went after you."

"Which is what you were supposed to do," Cragen said. "I'm pissed off at Tucker, believe me, he's in a world of trouble. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, Stabler, but you did the right thing. You acted based on the thought she was in danger, which is what the both of you need to do if we have a situation like this where you have to locate a vic. Hostage situations are tricky, and you can't waste time thinking logically. You have to expect the worst."

"So, Cap," Elliot said, raising an eyebrow, "What Tucker did…you're condoning it?"

"No, Elliot," Cragen said, shaking his head. "In this case, you were never even supposed to think your partner was in danger. This was just to see how you do your job on your own, evaluate and test your individual skills. I am, however, intrigued at the reaction you just had. Maybe, just maybe, you two are more than just partners?" he asked, smirking.

Olivia and Elliot looked at him, then looked at each other. They didn't know what to say. Olivia bit her bottom lip. Elliot folded his arms and sighed.

Cragen chuckled, taking two thick, stapled, packets of paper out of the filing cabinet to his left. "These are your contracts, with your rules and guidelines attached. For the love of God, read them so you can stop looking like deer caught in headlights every time I catch you flirting, hugging, or kissing."

Olivia raised an eyebrow as she reached for her contract.

Elliot scrunched up his face as he was handed his.

The pair read the first page, flipped to the second at the exact same time, and read. When they got to the page clarifying their rules, they simultaneously gasped.

"Well," Olivia said, surprised, "That brings a whole new meaning to the word 'partner', doesn't it?"

Elliot hummed in agreement. "So, what happens when we're done with this?" he asked, looking up at Cragen. "What happens when these rules no longer apply to us, and we have to follow yours?"

Cragen rolled his eyes. "See, when I tell you to read your contract, I mean read your damn contract!" He walked over, ripping the thing out of Elliot's hands, flipping to a page somewhere in the middle, and handed it back to him. "Article two, paragraph four, subsection three," he said. "Read it."

"Life?" Elliot gasped. "Like, until we die? We're partners, following these rules, right here, for the rest of our lives."

"Yeah, pretty much," Cragen said, laughing. "Until you retire, transfer, decide you no longer want to be a cop," he listed. "These are your contracts, binding agreements, for as long as work for the NYPD. You're bound to the SVU for five years, but after that, it's optional. I'm hoping you'll both stay…"

Olivia interrupted, looking around the room. "Here?" she asked. "This unit?"

"Anywhere you'd like," Cragen said.

"Here," Olivia said, nodding. "As long as it's here, this unit, I could do this job for life. Hell, five years. You're taking away our chance at a college education so it's the only thing we'll even be qualif…hey!"

Elliot's eyes widened at the revelation and he scoffed. "Seriousfuckingly?" he spat. "You people really know how to manipulate situations just to get what you want!"

Cragen looked at Elliot with a smug expression. "Well, yeah," he said. "Welcome to the NYPD."

Elliot looked at Olivia, and his scowl faded into a brilliant smile. He pulled her into his arms, kissed her forehead, and said, "Thanks, Cap."

"Those desks, over there," Cragen said, pointing, "Are yours. After your graduation, both from high-school and the academy, I expect your asses in them at six-thirty, no later than seven, every morning." He watched as Olivia and Elliot nodded. "Speaking of graduation, how was that math final yesterday?"

"Easy," they both replied. They looked at each other and laughed. "We studied," Elliot said, nodding toward his captain. "Didn't sleep, but we studied," Olivia said, her arm looping around Elliot.

Cragen smirked. "You two," he said, shaking his head, "Will learn to live off of very little sleep."

Elliot chuckled and said, "Especially if Tucker keeps waking us for stupid shit."

"Tucker is officially off of your asses," Cragen said, sounding fierce. He looked at Elliot and he realized something. "Stabler," he said, sternly. "Where _is_ Tucker?"

Elliot's eyes widened, then narrowed as he suppressed the urge to laugh. He ran a hand through Olivia's hair, turned to Cragen, and said, "Catching up on his sleep."

**A/N: Next: Graduation is over. Playtime is over. They're sent off to the real academy for ten weeks, how will they handle it? And what does Cragen do to Tucker? How does Tucker retaliate? **


	8. Slow Realizations

**A/N: Just when they thought it was over…the last day of school proves to be a bit more exciting than either Olivia or Elliot had planned. Guess Tucker really liked his nose. **

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns the characters. TStabler© likes to play with them. A lot. She owns the story: plot, narrative, dialogue, and stuff. Thanks!**

"So," a perky, blonde cheerleader began as she leaned perilously close to Elliot during study hall. "What are your plans for the summer?"

Elliot smirked. He once had a lot of plans for the summer, but they had been ripped out from under him like a cheap rug, replaced by three and a half hot, sweltering months at the police academy. Of course, that meant a hot, sweltering Olivia. His smirk grew evil and his eyes grew dark as he replied, "Uh, lots of exercise, and I'm taking my girlfriend camping." It wasn't exactly a lie. They would be outdoors a lot, in the mud, at night.

"I still don't get it," the blonde sighed. "I told you I needed space, Elliot. Just a little space, after that debacle with Kevin. I was ready to give you another chance. Now all of a sudden you're getting serious with this…"

"The next word out of your mouth better be, 'woman,' Kathy," Elliot spat. "No one insults her. Especially not in front of me. Especially not you."

Kathy, that was her name, opened her eyes wide and skirted her hand up Elliot's arm. "What the hell did she do to you? Is she a witch?"

"No," Elliot said, brushing her hand away. "She's not related to you, thank God."

Kathy rolled her eyes and ran her hand up Elliot's back. "It's the last day of school, we graduate tomorrow. I'm the mother of your child, Elliot. We should work things out before it's too late! Why don't we…"

"No," Elliot spat, interrupting as he practically threw her off of him. "I've got a girlfriend, and it's serious, and I think my favorite thing about her, Kathy, is that she's nothing like you."

Olivia, standing just outside the door, smirked and shook her head. God she loved his temper. She was about to stroll into the class, even though it wasn't hers, when she heard a loud crash. Her head snapped toward the direction from where the sound had come, and she took off, dropping her binder to the floor and resting her hand on her gun.

In seconds, Elliot had appeared at her side, running in complete sync with her. They turned the corner and heard the crashing sound again, like desks being hit, thrown or toppled over. They found the classroom it was coming from, but the door was locked. Elliot pulled out his gun and Olivia shot him a glare.

"Are you crazy?" Olivia asked, shaking her head. "Don't shoot the door!" she said backing up a bit and rearing back.

Elliot smirked and followed her lead, and with guns drawn they both kicked the door in, knocking it off its hinges. Elliot looked around, and didn't see anyone. "Fire window's open, Liv," he said, holstering his gun.

"El," Olivia called, trying to catch her breath as she stood over a pile of upturned desks. "Call this in," she spat hurriedly, kneeling down.

"Holy shit," Elliot gasped, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "That's Misses Fisher. I'm calling a bus," he said, dialing Cragen's number.

Olivia shook her head as she craned her neck back to look up at him. "Don't," she said. "Call the medical examiner." She got to her feet, walked over to the window and said, "She's dead." Something moving outside caught her eye, and she bolted into action before Elliot could stop her. She leaped out of the open window, landing on her feet, and started chasing the hooded figure.

"Shit," Elliot hisses as someone answered the phone. "Captain Cragen? Stabler. I wasn't sure! Listen, we have a situation at school, Olivia took off running after a guy we think may have just raped and killed our Spanish teacher. Tucker? No, I haven't seen him. I'm in the classroom, I didn't think I should leave…fuck! I should never let my partner out of my sight!"

"That's right," a voice from behind Elliot said. "I'll stay here with this mess. You go find Olivia."

"What the hell are you doing here, Cassidy?" Elliot asked, wide-eyed.

Brian Cassidy, a fifth-year senior, who, if you asked anyone, still had no hope of graduating, held up a badge. "Same thing you are. Go!"

Not needing to be told again, Elliot hung up the phone and jumped out of the window, heading in the direction he'd just seen Olivia run.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Cragen asked, watching the EMT hand Olivia an ice pack.

Olivia nodded, swatting the man's hand away. "I'm fine. You should see the other guy," she quipped. When no one laughed, she added, "I took a shot to the face, at least twice, every day for eighteen years. My mother hit harder than this guy." She looked down, shutting down at the memory.

Elliot, who had taken the ice pack from the EMT, cupped Olivia's chin with one hand and held the pack over her eye, gently, as he looked at her. "Never take off like that without me again, Liv," he said softly, sliding his thum over her lips.

Olivia kissed his thumb, making his heart stop, then looked up into his eyes. "I'm a big girl, El. I knew what I was do…"

"Liv!" Elliot scolded. "Promise me," he demanded, the look in his eyes desperate, his voice pleading.

Olivia, not used to having someone care so much about her, couldn't bring herself to speak. She simply nodded.

Cragen was moved by the connection between the two, and hoped they'd find out why they were paired with each other before he had to tell them. He cleared his throat. "You both know by now that you've got a new teammate," he said, folding his arms. "He's not your partner, he'll be more of a third-wheel than anything, at least until we find a fourth. Brian Cassidy," he said, pausing to turn toward the slightly older, more arrogant kid, "This is Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson."

"I know," Cassidy said, giving Olivia a longing look. "I know who they are."

Olivia shut her eyes and looked away, reaching out for Elliot's hand. She hoped it would be enough for Cassidy to get the picture.

"Okay, Liv," Elliot whispered, "What's this about?"

"Ex-boyfriend," Olivia whispered back to him. "He was…I mean I didn't love him…I wasn't in love with him…he's wasn't like you…it's not like this," she stumbled over her words, caressing his hand with her thumb as he moved the ice pack a little lower over her bruising cheek.

Elliot bent his head to touch hers, and whispered, "Did you just tell me you're in love with me?"

Olivia backed away. Those are words that were not in her vocabulary. "Um, I tried to," she admitted. "But, El, I'm not good with emotions, and words like that won't just…"

Elliot stopped her talking with a kiss. A beautiful, heartbreaking, soul-reaching kiss. He pulled away slowly, keeping the eye-contact intense. "I love you," he said to her, not caring who heard him.

A shocked expression slowly drew into a smirk, then crept into a smile, and then Olivia laughed. "I love you, too," she whispered, still unable to believe she felt it, he felt it, too, and she could think and say it. She pulled him back toward her for another kiss, then they heard Cragen clear his throat again.

"Well," Cragen said with a smug grin, "Now that that's out of the way, can we get back to work? Munch just told me that you broke three of the guy's ribs, Benson. Am I correct in assuming it was in self defense?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow and lowered her head slightly. "No, we were playing a rousing game of kick the can, and took turns being the can."

"Wow," Cassidy chuckled. "Sarcasm and a gun, you're even more lethal than you were two years ago."

"And don't you forget it," Olivia said through gritted teeth, sounding like a warning. "Anyway, yes. He hit me, then I hit him. A few times. I guess I don't know my own strength."

Cragen chuckled. "You know damn well you meant to do it all, Benson. He's being taken down to the station, and you two have to handle the interrogation tonight. Cassidy's gonna watch. He's got a lot of catching up to do, and you two are the best example we've got."

"Oh, Cap?" Elliot asked, as he helped Olivia out of the back of the EMT van, "Did CSU ever find out who ransacked our apartment?"

Cragen nodded and sighed. "Yeah," he said. "We're handling it."

"Thanks," Elliot said, turning to plant a soft kiss on Olivia's head.

Cassidy cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable. "Should I, uh, be doing something? Tucker said I would be doing stuff."

"Where the hell is Tucker?" Olivia asked. "It's awfully quiet around here without him."

"He's been reassigned," Cragen said.

Munch, coming up to the group, nodded and said, "He's an officer with IAB, now."

"IAB? That's Internal Affairs?" Elliot surmised.

Cragen hummed. "I told him he needed to find another unit after he pulled that stunt with you, Stabler. Leave it to him to pick the one job in the city that keeps his ass covered."

"So, wait," Olivia said, folding her arms, "If we fuck up, Tucker doles out the punishment?"

Munch sighed and nodded. "If he fucks up, all he gets is a slap on the wrist," he said, disgusted. "Little worm. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya. He's working for the CIA or some shit, and they sent him here to keep tabs on this program, in hopes that…"

"Munch," Cragen said, stopping him, "No one cares. Ride back with Cassidy, sign him out of class, show him the ropes at the station. Elliot, take Olivia back to class. You can't get in trouble for ditching, but you shouldn't miss your last hour of your last day. Say goodbye to your friends."

"Where are you going?" Munch asked, annoyed, as he watched Cragen walk away.

"To talk to a man about a rat," Cragen said. "He was playing in someone else's hole and I wanna know why."

Elliot looked at Olivia, and the realization hit and passed between them. "Tucker," Elliot said.

"He trashed our apartment," Olivia concluded. Her eyes, then, widened, and she closed her eyes in defeat.

"What?" Elliot asked, as he took her hand to lead her back to the school. "What, baby?"

Olivia looked up at Elliot and said, "Whoever wrecked the place, El, probably found pictures, and yearbooks, and journals when they tossed the bookcase."

"Yeah, and?" Elliot asked, missing her point.

"If it was Tucker," Olivia continued, "Then he found out about Brian, he knew that Brian and I used to…"

"Tucker pulled Cassidy in to fuck with us?" Elliot interrupted, pissed off and flabbergasted.

Olivia sighed. "Seems like it," she said, squeezing his hand and getting into the waiting police-issue sedan.

As they walked back into the front doors of their high school, they were met with a very unexpected scene. "There they are," a voice shouted. Immediately, flash bulbs went off and they were being bombarded with questions.

"No comment," Elliot barked, pushing his way through the crowd of reporter's, keeping his hand firmly clutched around Olivia's.

"What the hell is going on, here?" Olivia asked as they reached the mail hall.

They turned, slowly, when they realized it had suddenly gotten way too quiet. They came to face the halls filled with students and faculty, people were stopped in the staircases, and Jen, the girl they'd saved from being raped in the bathroom, started clapping. Soon, the rest of the people who were watching were applauding, cheering, yelling, "Go, Benson!" they heard. "All right, Stabler!" someone shouted. Then they saw Kathy, pissed off with her arms folded.

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other, a bit nervous, a bit scared, and a bit pissed off. "Guess our secret's out," Elliot said with a shrug.

"Not really," Tucker said, smugly, striding up to them. "They don't know you're cops." He ran a finger lightly over Olivia's purpling cheek. She flinched and pulled back, and he narrowed his eyes. "They do know you're heroes, though. They know you ran after the guy that killed their beloved teacher, and they know you helped bring Hunter down. You want them to stay in the dark, you want to make sure you graduate tomorrow with them thinking you're normal kids, then you have to do me a favor."

Elliot narrowed his eyes, pulling on Olivia, wrapping her protectively in his arms. "No way," he spat.

Tucker laughed. "No, Stabler. As sweet as spending the night with your little firecracker would be, I'm not blackmailing you for it. This is something a little more personal, a little more dangerous, and it breaks every rule in the NYPD book. Well, our rules, not yours."

"Just tell us what the hell you want, Tucker," Olivia seethed.

Tucker chuckled. "Wait," he said. "After school, I'll show you." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a silver cross on a chain, and dangled it in front of Olivia. "And, I believe, this belongs to you, Benson?"

Elliot's eyes widened. He hadn't seen that in years, and seeing it now made him realize why he'd fallen for Olivia so fast, so hard, and so easily.

**A/N: What is Tucker after? What is Cragen gonna try to do to him? What does that cross mean? Graduation doesn't go as smoothly as they imagined. And the first day at the academy causes Olivia and Elliot to have a drag out fight, will they make up? How? **


	9. Deception Averted

**A/N: A secret revealed, a favor left undone for Tucker, and a graduation they'll never forget. **

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns the characters. TStabler© likes to play with them. A lot. She owns the story: plot, narrative, dialogue, and stuff. Thanks!**

"Uh, Liv?" Elliot asked, as they walked into their repaired, refurnished apartment. "Where did you get that cross?"

Olivia hung up her jacket and moved quickly passed him. "I don't wanna talk about it," she said.

"I really need to know," Elliot prodded, grabbing her arm and spinning her around.

Olivia sighed. "El, drop it. It's just another reminder that the most important people in my life end up leaving me behind eventually."

"Is that what you think they did?" Elliot asked, the hurt he was feeling finally bubbling to the surface.

Olivia furrowed her brow, not knowing how he knew, or caring at the moment. "That's exactly what they did!" she fumed, harshly, her jaw clenched and her glare vicious.

"You wanna tell me how? Why do you think that's what they did?" Elliot asked, just as harshly.

Olivia plopped onto the couch and spat, "You want the whole story?"

Elliot nodded, knowing it would break his heart. "Yeah, Liv. I do."

"I was five years old the first time my mother really tried to kill me," Olivia began, knotting up the cross in her hands. "I had three broken ribs, a broken arm, you couldn't tell I even had a face because it was swollen and black and blue, I looked like a broken Smurf." She sniffled a bit and looked down at the cross longfully. "This cop walks into the E.R. He held my hand as the fucking nurse poked me, prodded me, and plucked me. I felt like a fucking turkey, and the cop, El, he stayed with me, talked to me, hugged me, then he looked at me and...and he asked if I wanted to go home with him. A man I have never met before cared more about me than my own mother." She twirled the cross around in her hands, nervously, knowing she'd cry in a moment at the long buried memory she was bringing up. "God, I can't believe I'm telling you this," she whispered. "His house smelled like a rose garden, his wife took one look at me and cried, his kids...they couldn't even look at me."

Elliot felt tears coming to his eyes. He knew what happened next. "You looked like a broken Smurf, they probably didn't want to look at you. It hurt to look at you."

Olivia let out a little chuckle as she cried and continued. "His wife gave me a bath. With bubbles. Then she made me a home-cooked meal, which up until then I had never had. The cop gave me a pair of pajamas, probably his son's since they had Spiderman all over them, and he led me to a huge room with a huge bed. He told me to go to sleep, that it was okay to sleep because the monster wouldn't hurt me anymore. He tucked me in, and he kissed me goodnight, Elliot!"

"He loved you," Elliot whispered.

Olivia scoffed. "Right," she said. "The middle of the night, I got up to ask if I could use the bathroom, and I heard him talking to his wife, who was still crying. He told her he didn't know why, or how, but they were gonna keep me. El, he said that he couldn't stand the thought of sending me back to my mother."

"He couldn't," Elliot whispered, finally sitting next to Olivia on the couch.

"His son, whose name I never learned, something I will regret for the rest of my life, came into my room, excited, asking me if I had heard them. I nodded, and this kid, who had never, ever met me before, hugged me and told me that everything was gonna be okay now. He stayed with me that night, because he wanted to be a good big brother and keep the monsters away," she sobbed and laughed, recalling it. "They took me shopping the next day, bought me new clothes, fed me again, and the whole time, the cop and his son, they didn't stop hugging me. I stayed with them for a week. It was the best week of my life. His son held my hand every night for a whole fucking week, and we got close, I had an actual friend, and this cop, Elliot, the cop told me the kid was my new brother, he told me I had a family. He screwed with my head!" she yelled, suddenly filled with hurt and anger.

Elliot choked on the words, "He didn't mean to."

"One night, he came into the room he had told me was mine, he was crying, and he told me to get up because we had to go somewhere. I listened, because I didn't want to upset him or make him angry. He put me in the car and drove me to the police station. He handed me this," she said, holding up the cross, "And he said he was sorry. He said he'd come back for me. Then he left. He just fucking left me there! Alone! My mother came in an hour later, pulled me out of the station by my still-broken arm," she said, cringing. "She poured herself a drink the minute we got home. She yelled at me for letting those people take care of me, she threw out everything they'd given me, except this necklace because I wouldn't let it go, and then she beat me to within an inch of my life. I was back in the hospital the next day, with no proof that my mother did it. She blamed her ex-boyfriend and they believed her. I expected the cop to come get me again, but he didn't. Now you tell me, Elliot, how that wasn't leaving me behind!"

"His commanding officer gave him direct orders to stay away from you, since it wasn't his case anymore. They said he was getting too involved, Liv. He tried, okay! There was no legal way he could have taken you away from your mother. He had no legal claim to you, he couldn't adopt you since you weren't being orphaned, and the charges against your mother were dropped because ACS is a bunch of fucking idiots!" Elliot yelled, not meaning to, as tears rolled down his cheeks. "He wanted you, in the worst way." He reached for her hand, clutching it. He turned it over and started to draw circles in her palm with his finger, the way he did when he was watching her sleep, keeping the monsters away. "We all did," he whispered.

Olivia gasped, watching him do what he used to do to keep her from having nightmares. He'd spent a week in her bed with her, keeping the bad dreams away. "Oh, my God," she whispered. "You...it was your..."

"Yeah," Elliot said, nodding. "That cop was my father, and the crazy, crying, woman was my mother. You looked really cute in my Spiderman pajamas, and none of us ever forgot about you. We missed you, Liv. We wanted you. There was just nothing we could do for you."

Olivia blinked, her last tear rolled down her cheek, and she stopped his hand moving. "There's something you can do for me now," she whispered to him.

"Anything, Liv," Elliot said, looking deep into her eyes. "I will do anything for you."

Olivia pressed her forehead to his, nuzzled his nose, and said, "Love me."

"Oh, baby," Elliot said, pressing his lips to hers and wrapping her safely and securely in his arms, "I already do. So much." They held on to each other, kissing sweetly through their tears, as the reason for the deep, penetrating bond they shared seared itself into their hearts.

* * *

"Maybe he forgot," Elliot said, leaning to the front to whisper into Olivia's ear. She swatted at him, his tassel was tickling her neck.

"He didn't forget," Olivia whispered back, craning her neck. "Tucker wouldn't forget. He's pissed that we didn't do it, El. I just couldn't, in good conscience, hack into the..."

She was cut off, abruptly, when a loud, cracking pop rang through the air. Forgetting they were graduating, forgetting rules, policies, and keeping secrets, they both leaped out of their chairs, running in the direction of the gunshot. Olivia was the first to rip off the white gown and toss her cap off. they were slowing her down. She grabbed her gun, and her badge was clearly visible. When Elliot did the same thing, realization hit the graduating class and everyone watching. Another shot, and they ran faster, into the bleachers, under them. They aimed, out of breath, at the man holding the gun. Wearing his own green cap and gown, he was aiming his gun at Ed Tucker.

"Drop it," Olivia barked.

"Back off bitch," the kid spat, evil in his voice. "This doesn't concern you."

Olivia smirked. "NYPD, pal. Everything in this godforsaken city concerns me."

Tucker smirked at her and chuckled. "Oh, so now you think you're a cop," he said.

"Shut up, Tucker," Elliot hissed, his own gun drawn. "Kevin, put the gun down, man," he spoke calmly, rationally, to his friend.

"No, Elliot," the boy, named Kevin, said. "You don't get it. I'm not the bad guy here, and I'm not going down for something I didn't do. He wants me to take the fall, cover up for his son," he explained. "No way."

Olivia gasped. "You wanted us to hack into the system because the suspect was your kid!"

Tucker sighed. "Well, why the fuck else would I ask you to falsify evidence?" he asked. "You're not gonna do it, though. Are you?"

"Hell no," Elliot said, walking over and taking the gun, easily, from Kevin. "Kev, bro, you're not making things better, here. You didn't do anything, and thank God you have shitty aim," he spoke, "But now you're going down for assaulting an officer, possession of a concealed weapon, and..."

"No," Tucker said, clambering to his feet. "Just let him go, Stabler."

"What?" Elliot asked, confused.

Tucker sighed, again, and looked at Elliot. "My son, James, is the one who belongs in custody. It was wrong of me to try to get him off the hook like this. Let Kevin go, and after this is over, go get my kid."

"What for?" Olivia asked, confused. "What were you framing Kevin for, Tucker? What did your son do?"

Tucker looked at Olivia, a flash of guilt in his eyes. "Rape one," he said, choking on the words. "That's your specialty."

"Lemme guess," Elliot said, taking a step forward, "Now you want us to forget what you asked us to do. too. huh? You want us to turn the other way, pretend we never knew you were gonna..."

"Yes," Tucker interrupted, sharply. "Because no one would believe you anyway, and your badges are in my hands. Remember that. I own your asses now."

Elliot seethed and his eyes darkened with rage. "No one owns me, or Liv, you got that?" he barked, his hand twisting around Tuckers collar.

Olivia, holstering her gun and shaking her head, said, "El, let him go. Just let it go. We have to go graduate, here."

"I think the entire fucking ceremony stopped, Liv," Elliot said, turning around. "We caused a bit of a scene, in case you didn't notice!"

"Hey," Olivia spat, "Why the fuck are you yelling at me?"

"I'm not," Elliot fumed. "I'm just...yelling," he yelled as he pushed passed her, walking back out onto the field and grabbing his cap and gown up off the grass.

Olivia heaved a heavy sigh, grabbed Kevin by the arm and yanked, following Elliot's path. She threw Kevin into his chair, zipped up her own gown, put her cap on her head, and sat, huffing, in front of Elliot.

Elliot rested his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, easing a little of the tension. He leaned forward, kissed her neck, and whispered, "I love you," into her ear. His hand slid down her shoulder as his lips pressed against the back of her neck again, softly, pecking her several times, in rapid succession.

"I love you, too, El," Olivia sighed, reaching up to take his hand in hers.

"You know I don't mean it when I yell at you," Elliot said, a hopeful statement, not a question. "Right?"

Olivia nodded. "You have a temper, El. You're a hot head. I have to live with it."

Elliot chuckled. "Yeah," he said with a smirk. "You do. For a really long time."

As the diploma's were given out, Cragen, Munch, and a dark haired, dark skinned woman watched, with proud gleams in their eyes. "You think they'll come to one of us about Tucker?" Munch asked.

Cragen nodded. "They're not easily intimidated, Munch. They didn't do what he asked them to do, proving their loyalties lie with each other and the department. I don't think they'll just let it go. They'll fold."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "They're not gonna be easy, are they? Tomorrow, when they start at the academy, I can't push one without expecting the other to push back in defense. They're gonna be a team, no matter what, aren't they?"

"Yep," Cragen said, giving her a slight nod. "Push 'em both, Jeffries. Toughen 'em up, make 'em realize the true meaning of the word 'partner,' and for the love of God give them their own bunk. They don't play well with others."

**A/N: Will Olivia and Elliot meet Cragen's expectations and rat him out? How will their first day at the academy go, when Cassidy shows up with them? What happens when the other rookies find out they're already carrying badges? And what clause in their contract sets Olivia off, causing that fight? If you want me to, I'll tell you. **


	10. Sidestepping Betrayal

**A/N: Sometimes, even the strongest people we know can't hide their feelings under pressure. It takes someone truly special to calm them down.**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story, plot and components, belongs to TStabler©**

"Liv?" Elliot called, peeling himself off of the lumpy, grimy bed in their new barrack. "Olivia?" He followed the sound of muffled sobs to the bathroom, and he pushed the door open.

"Jesus," Olivia said with a sniffle, wiping her eyes. "Don't you knock, Stabler?"

"Liv, are you crying?" Elliot asked, his eyes widening as he knelt in front of her.

"What? No," Olivia said, turning away from him. "Why the hell would I be crying? I do not cry! Why would I cry?"

Elliot sighed. "Because we had the day from hell, we both realized that our lives are being completely controlled by the NYPD, and you had a nightmare five seconds before you jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. I know your nightmares, baby." He caressed her cheek, tilted her head up, and asked, "Why are you crying?"

Olivia shook her head.

"Tell me," Elliot demanded. "I'm your partner, in a thousand ways. Baby, tell me."

"I can't do this," Olivia sobbed, clutching onto him suddenly. "I can't break down because some bitch on a power trip makes me run thirty miles in the rain with a twisted ankle and cramps, I can't cry just because all of our friends are at the beach enjoying the last summer of their childhood, before going off to the college of their dreams, while we're pummeling the shit out of each other and learning the ins and outs of the state legal system. I can't run into the fucking bathroom in the middle of the night because I can't stop remembering the way I felt when my mother..."

Elliot wrapped her tighter in his arms. "Shh," he said, stroking her hair back. He worked backwards, telling her what she most needed to hear first. "You will never have to feel like that again, because no one is ever going to hurt you like that, ever. I'm not gonna let them. We couldn't enjoy the last summer of our childhood because neither one of us really had a childhood to celebrating the ending of, and you are so much stronger and smarter and faster that that Jeffries bitch. She makes our lives hell because she's jealous of you and she's got the hots for me."

Olivia chuckled. "Thanks, so now I've got competition," she mumbled into his chest.

"No way," Elliot said, pushing her back to look into those brown eyes he loved so much. "There's only you, Liv. Just you, baby." He kissed her, feeling her calm down, sinking into the kiss. Her light moan told him what he needed to know. "Come on," he said, pulling her into the bedroom."Let's get back into that hard, smelly, police-issue bed and I'll prove..."

Two ringing cell phones blared, interrupting an otherwise sexy suggestion.

Olivia sighed, scratching his back lightly. "Duty calls," she groaned.

Elliot grumbled, "Does it always have to call when we're trying to..."

"Benson," Olivia said, shutting him up as she answered the phone. "Well, that's great, but how are we...won't that cause...okay. We're on the way." She looked at Elliot and said, "We get to go to the beach after all."

"What?" Elliot asked, pulling his shirt on.

"Dead body at Manhattan Beach. Girl. Raped," Olivia said, mechanically. "Is it horrible that I'm getting used to saying that?"

Elliot shook his head. "You can get used to saying it," he told her. "But you can't get used to dealing with it. That's when we have a problem."

"That," Olivia said, grabbing her gun and badge out of the drawer on the nightstand, "Is never gonna happen."

They did as Cragen had instructed, walking nonchalantly off of the academy grounds, and flashed their badges as they passed through the gates. A car was waiting for them, and when they got into the backseat, Olivia rolled her eyes and groaned. "Gimme a break," she spat. "You?"

"Me," Jeffries said, smirking. "You two are a handful. Sorry about today. You both needed to be taught a few lessons."

"I'm sorry," Olivia said. "When did this become a friendly conversation?"

Jeffries scoffed. "You are easily threatened, aren't you, Benson? I flirt with your little boy-toy there a little to ruffle your feathers and you hate me?"

"No," Olivia said. "I hate you because you're a bitch," she said, staring out the window. "And you can flirt with Stabler all you want. Nothing's gonna happen. I'm pretty damn sure he's happy with what he's got, he wouldn't want to trade down."

Jeffries sighed. "You need to learn a thing or two about respect if you wanna cut it as a cop, kid," she said, staring at Olivia in the rear view mirror. "Especially since you're a girl."

"Well, in my opinion, the only people who deserve respect are the people who treat me with it. I'm not one to respect my elders, or authority, in case you haven't noticed. What was that golden rule thing? Do unto others as you would have others do unto you? I work backwards. With me, you get what you give."

Jefferies smiled, and as she pulled onto the highway, she knew that Olivia would have to learn her place, and learn to stay in it. And she knew just how to teach her how to do it.

* * *

"I can not believe they gave us the rest of the day off," Olivia said with a yawn, tossing off her jacket and plopping into the bed.

Elliot toed off his shoes, pulled off his shirt, and slung himself onto the lumpy mattress next to her, pulling her into his arms. "We were at a crime scene until four in the morning," he mumbled sleepily. "And then we went to talk to the girl's parents, and talked to the kids at her school. We've already missed three classes, Liv, and we are in no condition to go through tactical and firearms training."

Olivia grumbled what could have been, "You're right." Her head was buried under Elliot's arm, between his shoulder and the mattress, so he didn't really understand her.

Elliot chuckled, rolling over slightly to give her a kiss on the forehead. "I loved the way you showed up that Jeffries woman," he whispered into her hair. "You really proved you knew what you were doing, and you corrected her. Eight times."

"El," Olivia garbled with a mouthful of his arm, "I think that's part of their diabolical plan. Part of the training or whatever. See if we know our shit."

"I don't think so, baby," Elliot said with a laugh. "You got her, and you got her good. She was way too pissed at you for her to have been wrong on purpose," he told her. He ran his hands over her back and squeezed her tighter. "I'm not tired," he whispered to her.

Olivia picked her head up, looking into his eyes. "How are you not tired?"

Elliot shrugged. "Okay, so I'm tired," he admitted. "There's just something more important to me than sleep right now," he said, sincerely, with a half-dopey smile on his face.

"And what's that?" Olivia asked, smirking, as if she didn't know.

Elliot gave her a menacing, narrow-eyed smirk and pulled her on top of him, rolling over on the bed, which felt as if it was stuffed with bricks instead of feathers. "You, Liv," he said, pulling her down to meet him for a kiss. "You're more important to me than anything. You and Maureen. You're everything."

Olivia peered down at him and her heart thudded. Why did he care so much? Why was she letting him? He had been there for her so many years ago, the only one who ever made the pain stop, and here he was, ready and willing to do it all again, and she was petrified.

He must have seen the flash of fear and uncertainty register in her eyes, because the smile faded from his face and was replaced by a very serious expression. "Liv, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I couldn't if I wanted to, I signed a contract remember?" he laughed. "Seriously, baby, I'm not gonna leave you again. Partners for life. We made a deal."

"Yeah," Olivia said, "But that was before I…never mind."

"Before you what?" Elliot asked, worried that she'd changed her mind.

Olivia closed her eyes and dropped her head to his. "Before I fell in love with you. Now when you leave, and you _will _leave, it's gonna hurt even more. I wanna be with you while I can, El. I hate myself for letting this happen, you know that?"

"Liv," Elliot barked, rolling them over, pushing her down into the firm bed, "I'm not going anywhere! I'm not gonna hurt you. I know that's hard for you to believe, but it's the truth. I didn't expect to fall in love with you, either. But I did. You don't see me freaking out about it, do you? I've been burned before, too, Liv. Badly. Part of me thinks you're gonna up and take the fuck off, too, but I can't let the fear hold me back from…loving you. You know losing you would kill me, Liv."

Olivia blinked. He was right. "El," she said, taking a deep breath and letting her eyes close. She exhaled as they opened and she looked deeply into his blue orbs. "I'm scared, but I'm not gonna run," she whispered. "I wasn't planning on running."

"And I'm not gonna leave," Elliot whispered back, realizing he may have overreacted a bit. "So now what?" he asked, a playful smile at his lips, lightening the mood.

"I think this is where we kiss," Olivia said, her smile now matching his.

"I think so," Elliot whispered, bending his head to meet her lips. He kissed her, slowly, loving the way she wrapped herself around him, the way she sighed and moaned, the way she responded so willingly to him. He deepened the kiss, running his hand down her side, reaching a particularly sensitive spot, making her gasp and he poked his tongue into her mouth, surprising her.

Olivia laughed, massaging his tongue with hers, dragging her legs up and down against his, telling him she wanted more.

Elliot moaned into Olivia's mouth, trailing his hands up her body, grabbing the hem of her shirt, pulling it up. He reluctantly pulled back from their kiss to remove the shirt completely. Immediately kissing her again, he moved to her pants, sliding them down.

Olivia had pushed Elliot's pants down and was about to shove his boxers off when he stopped the action, stilling his movements. "El," she whispered, "Elliot, what's…"

"Shh," Elliot said, his head popping up and turning toward their door. "Do you hear that?"

"No," Olivia said, listening, "I don't hear…what is that?" she asked, finally hearing the scratching sound Elliot had been talking about.

Elliot straightened his boxers out, grabbed his gun and got out of the bed. "Okay, it's one thing when it's Cragen interrupting us," he said, walking over to the door of their bunkroom, "But if this is some fucking raccoon or some shit that's keeping us from…oh, my God," he cried, opening the door.

"What?" Olivia asked, running to him in nothing but her black boy shorts and an NYPD tank top. She looked down and gasped. "I'll call Cragen," she said, running to get her phone.

Elliot knelt down and tried to get the woman to open her eyes. "Hey," he cried. "Hey, can you hear me?"

The woman nodded.

"Good," Elliot said. "You're gonna be okay, Jeffries." He looked around, curious, and thought it strange that something like this could happen on police academy property. There was not a single C.O. around, and the few rookies and officers that littered the place seemed not to notice the bleeding, broken woman lying at the foot of their cabin stairs. Elliot scooped her up into his arms, pulled her inside, and sat her on the couch. He got her a blanket and when he was sure she was alert and responsive, he asked the first question. "What happened to you?"

Jeffries looked at him, tears in her black and blue eyes, blood seeping from her split lip. "I was raped," she said, trying not to sob, trying to be strong.

Olivia, shutting her phone, walked over. "Cragen's on his way. He's bringing a bus, and Tucker." She looked at Jeffries, knelt down beside her, and asked, "Do you know who did this to you?"

"Yes," Jeffries nodded. "But they…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

Olivia's eyes widened. "They?" she asked.

Jeffries nodded again. "They weren't looking for me. I was just there. I got in their way."

"Who were they looking for?" Olivia asked, suddenly worried that they had a new potential vic.

Jeffries looked at Elliot, hung her head, then turned and looked up at Olivia. Very quietly, almost guiltily, she said, "You."

**A/N: Was this some sort of female rookie hazing gone wrong? Did Jeffries set it up, then feel bad about it? How will Elliot and Olivia handle their case, and who at the academy find out their real cops? How will that affect their treatment? Maureen comes for a visit! And will Elliot and Olivia EVER stop getting interrupted? I'll keep going, if you want me to.**


	11. Final Interruption

**A/N: Sometimes, when the choice is made for you, your anger and frustration over it need to be vented. In many ways. **

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story, plot and components, belongs to TStabler©**

Olivia, running as fast as she could, sweat seeping through her navy, NYPD tank top, was so engrossed in what she was doing, she didn't hear the door behind her open. She didn't hear the footsteps. For some reason, though, she knew he was there.

"What?" she spat.

Elliot smirked. "Doesn't that get annoying?"

"What? Knowing you're behind me?" Olivia asked, her voice dripping with disdain.

"No," Elliot said, stepping closer to her. "That. You run and you run, but you never get anywhere."

Olivia scoffed. "Story of my life," she said harshly. "Can't exactly run away from this shit, can I?" she asked bitterly. "How did you know where I was?"

"You weren't in the room when I got out of the shower," Elliot said. "The only other buildings that are open this late are the cafeteria and the gym. What's with the Rocky routine?"

Olivia shook her head. "Running," she panted, "Clears my head. It helps me think. Get things straight."

"What are you thinking about, baby?" Elliot asked, walking around to the front of her treadmill, leaning on the handles. He gazed into her eyes and saw a tumult of emotions swimming in them.

"The mess I got myself into," Olivia said. "The fact that Jeffries set me up, and if we had gone to the mess hall instead of trying to boink on the bunk, it would have been me."

Elliot shook his head. "No, Liv, I wouldn't have let..."

"I was also thinking about you," she interrupted.

"Me?" Elliot asked, taken aback.

Olivia nodded, running harder. "You. How you fucking get into my head and scramble everything around," she said. "How you...all you have to do is look at me, and I'm gone, Elliot. My heart races, my legs go weak, and the only thing I wanna do for the rest of my life is hold you."

"That's...wow," Elliot said, smirking. "I feel the same..."

Olivia broke in again. "Do you know how much that sucks?"

"Sorry?" Elliot asked, now confused.

"El," Olivia breathed, finally slowing and stopping the treadmill, "You scare the shit out of me every time you look at me. You love me, and that's...never happened before."

Elliot reached out and brushed her sweaty hair back. "You love me, too. No one's ever done that before, not really. Not like this."

Olivia smirked, threw her towel over her shoulder, and walked out of the gym.

"Hey!" Elliot called after her. "Liv," he spat, catching up to her, "You just walked out because things got serious?"

"No," Olivia said, heading toward their cabin. "I walked out so things could get serious." She raised an eyebrow and swiped her card-key, opening the door.

Elliot smirked, walking into the bunkroom and asking, "And what exactly does that mean?"

Olivia grinned, threw her towel onto the couch and turned to face him. "I'm scared, but I'm happy. I'm terrified, but it's thrilling. You excite me, and you captivate me, and you drive me crazy."

Elliot, smug grin on his face, slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him. "You do the same thing to me, baby," he said, dropping his lips to hers. "You know you do."

"I don't wanna be afraid anymore," Olivia whispered, pulling his shirt out of his sweat pants. "I don't want to run from this. From you. No more interruptions, El," she breathed against his neck. She felt Elliot grab her tank top, pulling it over her head, and she did the same to his tee-shirt.

"You don't have to be afraid of anything, Liv," Elliot said, pulling away from her to look her in the eyes. "Not while I'm around. No one, nothing, is gonna hurt you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Stabler," a gruff male voice said from their left.

They turned, reaching for their guns. Olivia and Elliot aimed at the same time.

"So it's true," the man said. "You two are the real deal? NYPD, Manhattan, Sex Crimes, you're real cops."

"Yeah," Elliot said.

"What the fuck are you doing here then?" the man asked, stepping forward. "You're making the rest of us look like idiots, ya know that? Especially you, Benson. We all feel like shit coming in second to a girl."

"Listen, man," Elliot said, his anger building, "She's good. She's damn good. Maybe you need to up your game, since your probably behind me, too."

The man shook his head and chuckled. "Put your guns down," he said. "I'm only here to tell you what I know about that Jeffries bitch."

Elliot dropped his gun, then threw his tee-shirt to Olivia, not wanting her to be bra-clad in front of this guy any longer. "Talk," he spat.

"She paid a few of us to wait in the mess hall for Benson, here," the man told them. "She said that Benson needed to be taught a lesson in respect, one her mother had to learn."

Olivia, tugging on Elliot's shirt, seethed. "What?" she cracked.

"Yeah," the man continued. "She said you needed to find out first hand what she went through, what your victims go through, to make you more sympathetic. But really, she just wanted to break you."

"How many of you were there?" Elliot asked, his eyes narrow and his arms around Olivia.

"Hey," the man said. "Count me out. The second I heard what she wanted, I walked. But there were five guys who took her up on the offer."

"Five?" Olivia asked. "We only got four in cus..."

"Yeah," the man interrupted. "I know. The fifth guy got off. He's one of you. They're all callin' you lot the new Mod Squad."

Olivia squinted. "Mod Squad?" she asked.

The man they were talking to huffed. "Yeah, the Mod Squad, ya know? Three teenagers roped into being cops to get out of...whatever, point is, no one knew they still do that, and your third teammate was the first one to agree to the gang-bang."

"Cassidy," Elliot hissed.

"Oh, God," Olivia gasped, her eyes wide. "How did you know?"

"I was there," the man said. "And he's bragging about how he saved you, Benson, by convincing the guys to turn on Jeffries. He's the one going around telling all us rookies that you two are legit. You know how many people hate you now?" the man laughed. "He swears he left before they got Jeffries. No blood on his hands that way."

Elliot shook his head and chuckled. "Of course," he said. "Cassidy wants the credit for saving your life, baby. He's still in love with you."

Olivia hummed in agreement, nodding, then turned to the man to whom they'd been speaking. "Thanks," she said. "What's your name?"

The man held out his hand and said, "Tutuola." He shook Elliot's hand, too, and said, "Odafin Tutuola. You can call me Fin. It's easier that way."

Elliot nodded, then he and Olivia watched their new person-of-interest leave.

"Well," Olivia said, "So much for not being interrupted." She padded over to the door, locked it, and pulled off Elliot's tee-shirt. "Where were we?"

Elliot looked at her and chuckled as he pulled her close to him. "Maureen's coming to visit tomorrow," he said. "If we wanna be alone, we gotta do it tonight."

Olivia nodded as she kissed him. "What do you think I've been trying to do, El?"

"Me," Elliot quipped, biting her bottom lip and pulling her back toward the bedroom.

Olivia chuckled as she felt herself being tossed on the bed.

Elliot crawled over her, slowly pulled down her blue track pants, taking her panties with them, and he moaned in delight. "You are so beautiful," he whispered, peppering her legs and thighs with sweet kisses.

"Oh, God, El," Olivia moaned, bucking her hips lightly.

Elliot chuckled, crawling back up her body. He kissed her, deeply, as his hand snaked under her back, pulling her sports bra over her head. He gasped, then growled as he took on of her nipples into his mouth.

Olivia moaned his name, loudly, as he suckled and nibbled, making wonderful noises of his own. She grabbed his head, pulling and detaching him from her chest. She cupped his face and kissed him thoroughly, moving under him.

Deepening the kiss, mumbling sweet "I love you'"s against her lips, Elliot wormed out of his pants, kicking them off of his legs and the bed, and then he gasped. "Shit," he said, pulling his lips off of hers.

"What?" Olivia asked, flushed, breathless, and intensely aroused.

"Condom," Elliot said. "I don't..."

"It's okay," Olivia said, pulling his head back toward hers. "The end table, El," she said, jerking her head to her right with a smirk.

Elliot chuckled. "Of course you'd know where I put them." He reached into the drawer, pulled out a foil-wrapped package, and ripped it open.

Olivia took it out of his hands and rolled it on for him, watching his eyes. "El," she said, moving him over a bit to her entrance, "I love you."

Elliot smiled softly, kissed her slowly, and said, "I love you, too, baby." He kissed her again, then pulled away a bit to rest his forehead against hers, looking deeply into her eyes as he pushed slowly into her.

* * *

"What are you doing out here?" Cragen asked Munch. "Shouldn't you be watching the kids?"

Munch scoffed. "I think they deserve a little privacy right now."

"Oh," Cragen said, his eyebrows raising. "You send in Tutuola?"

"Yep," Munch said. "He didn't tell them who he was, though. Just gave them his name."

Cragen folded his arms, pressed his lips together, and said, "Well, when they get back here, they'll find out, won't they?"

"Guess so," Munch said, shaking his head. "What are you gonna do about Jeffries?"

Cragen smirked, walking into his office. He turned his head over his shoulder and said, "Who's that, Munch?"

Before Munch could ask what that meant, Cragen slammed the door.

**A/N: What's Fin's deal? Was Cassidy really going to let anyone hurt Olivia, and did he have a hand in what happened with Jeffries? The truth, and Maureen's visit. NEXT if you say so.**


	12. Sizing Up

**A/N: Maureen and Bernie cause a little tension. Elliot's mind has been thoroughly blown, as has Olivia's, but why? What's the deal with Brian and Fin?**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. Story belongs to TStabler© Read it? Love it? Review it!**

"Get all that, Liv?" Elliot asked, leaning over to whisper to her during their seminar on search and seizure policy and procedure.

Olivia chuckled. "I think I know how to frisk someone," she said. "I know you know how to get, uh, frisky." She smirked at him and he winked at her.

Turning back to the front, they saw Brian Cassidy enter the room, looking bedraggled. He hadn't slept and he looked like he hadn't eaten, either. Olivia looked at Elliot, and he gave her a knowing look, and a smirk. It was clear, to them, that he'd been with Cragen, and Cragen let him have it.

Cassidy walked up the steps and sat behind them, knowing they would have no desire to talk to him, and he spent thirty minutes looking longingly at the back of Olivia's head. When the instructor dismissed them, Cassidy made his move.

"Olivia," he called.

Olivia turned around, glared at him, then turned back, heading away.

"Olivia, wait!" Cassidy yelled, catching up to her and Elliot. "Let me explain."

"Explain what?" Olivia barked. "That you set me up just so you could save me? You thought I'd, what, leap into your arms like you were my fucking knight in shining armor?"

"Something like that," Cassidy admitted. "But I didn't set you up! I was never gonna let those guys near you, Olivia! I only agreed to do it so I could make sure they didn't hurt you!"

Elliot scoffed. "But you more than willingly let them attack Jeffries," he said.

"She deserved it!" Cassidy yelled.

"No one deserves that, Brian!" Olivia snapped.

Cassidy looked at her, surprised. "She was going to make those guys..."

"I don't care!" Olivia yelled. "You're exactly like the creeps that we're supposed to be putting away!"

"Not anymore," Cassidy said, hanging his head. "Breach of contract. I'm just a rookie, now. I've, uh, been replaced."

Olivia turned her back on him, spouting a harsh, "Good," over her shoulder.

* * *

"Ya know," Elliot said, taking her hand as they walked toward the dining hall, "This is kind of like college."

"Yeah, only without the promise of a degree, frat parties, actual classes, and freedom that go along with it," Olivia said, rolling her eyes.

Elliot looped an arm around her shoulder. "This isn't that bad, right? At least we're in it together." He leaned closer, and whispered, "What , uh, what happened last night, Liv?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "If you don't know, then screw college, you need to go back to high school," she said with a chuckle.

Elliot chuckled, pulling on her to make her stop. He pulled her to the side of the path and down, to sit under a tree. He looked away from her as he said, "No, Liv, that was not sex. That was not...it was making love, but it wasn't. Liv, that was...something else."

"Yeah, I thought it was just me," Olivia said, letting out a small sigh. "I, uh, I don't know what to tell you, El."

"Tell me we are gonna do that again," Elliot laughed.

"Oh, we are," Olivia said, smirking at him. "But, uh, not tonight. We have to go meet your mom and your daughter, remember?"

Elliot brushed the hair out of her eyes. "We have a few minutes, Liv. I gotta say this. Baby, I've never felt like that, ever. And I was a jock in high school," he told her, giving her a cocky smirk.

"Yeah," Olivia said giving him a skeptical look. "A jock with a conscience. I knew _both_ of the girls you slept with, and I think if you combined their IQ's you'd get my shoe size."

Elliot laughed. "Okay, so I wasn't exactly a playboy, but Liv, I can't wrap my head around what happened. I couldn't feel my legs and I think I actually saw Jesus. We didn't stop, Liv. I don't know how long we lasted, but the alarm went off and we were still..."

"I was there," Olivia chuckled. "It was amazing. It was bound to be, after all the stops and starts we've had, it had to have been incredible."

"If it sucked we would have both been pretty damn pissed," Elliot laughed.

"El," Olivia said, catching his eyes, holding his gaze, "I love you, and this is the first time real love has been part of the equation, so no matter what, it wasn't gonna suck."

Elliot smiled at her, dropping his forehead to hers. "I love you, too, Liv. I think _that's _what made it so damn fantastic."

Olivia smiled warmly at him, then got up off of the grass. "Come on," she said, holding out her hand. "Let's go before your mother thinks I kidnapped you."

* * *

"Owifuh!" Maureen squealed, wriggling out of Bernie's lap and wobbling over to Olivia.

Olivia bent down and lifted her up. "Hey, munchkin!" she said as she hugged the girl.

"Hey, Maury," Elliot said, pretending to be offended, "You go to her first? I'm Daddy!"

Maureen laughed at Elliot with a big smile as she playfully hid in Olivia's shoulder. "Dada, wuffu!"

"Um, I need an English to Two-Year-Old translation," Olivia said, glancing at Elliot.

Elliot laughed. "She told me she loves me."

Maureen held out her arms to Elliot and he took her from Olivia. He looked over at his mother, then jerked his head at Olivia, telling her to follow him over to her. "Hi, Mom," he said, smiling.

"Hello, dear," Bernie said. Then she looked toward Olivia, eying her up and down. "Not your type," she said to Elliot. "That's good."

Elliot glanced nervously at Olivia, knowing what his mother was about to do. "Mom, please, don't..."

Bernie interrupted him. "She's only a few inches shorter than you, isn't that going to be weird when she wears heels? You have never dated someone this tall."

Olivia, a bit uncomfortable, said, "I don't wear heels Misses..."

"You will," Bernie said, cutting her off. "And that might be weird, no?" She took a step toward Olivia and ran a finger through her ponytail. "Brown hair, not blonde."

"Mom," Elliot said, pleading, "Don't do this. Could you please not do this?"

Bernie went on. "Brown eyes, not blue. A bit thicker than you like them. Not think, no, I meant strong. Muscular. You usually date such tiny girls."

"Are you calling me fat?" Olivia asked, mildly offended.

Elliot glared at his mother. "Mom! Quit it, okay?"

Bernie didn't stop. "She's not giggling, your girls usually giggle. She's tough, with an attitude problem, definitely not your type, Elliot."

"Mom!" Elliot yelled. "Enough!"

"Just making observations, Elliot," Bernie said. "No need to yell. Besides," she said, turning to face her son, "I never said that it was a bad thing."

"What?" Elliot asked, moving closer to Olivia.

Bernie laughed. "Sweetheart, I had to bite my tongue whenever you brought one of those bubbly, blonde cheerleaders home. This," she said, pointing to Olivia, "Is a _real_ girl. You found one."

Elliot chuckled. "I did," he said. "And I'm keeping her."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Bernie asked, folding her arms and smirking.

"By, uh, keeping my job, Mom," Elliot said. "She's my partner."

Bernie looked at Olivia again, this time a questioning glance. "You can keep him safe, can you?"

"I can," Olivia said, nodding just once. "As long as he holds up his end of the bargain."

"Mom," Elliot interjected, "Are you done sizing up Olivia?"

Bernie nodded. "I am," she said. "And she passes."

Elliot rolled his eyes. "Even if she didn't..."

"I know," Bernie said with a knowing smile, "You'd date her anyway."

They all sat around the table, Elliot holding onto his daughter, and they were about to start their dinner, when Elliot's cell phone bleeped.

"Oh, great," Elliot said, looking at the caller ID. "Stabler," he said, answering it.

Maureen kept looking at Olivia with her big, blue eyes. She scooted out of her father's lap and climbed up onto Olivia's. She looked into Olivia's eyes, with Olivia staring back at her in wonderment, and she held out her little hand and rested a tiny finger on Olivia's nose. "Owifuh," the tot said, smiling.

Olivia laughed and poked Maureen in the nose as she said, "Maureen."

Elliot hung up the phone and turned to Olivia and Maureen just in time to hear and see his daughter, still looking at Olivia, say, "Wuffu."

Olivia froze.

Elliot stopped breathing.

Bernie felt tears building in her eyes.

"Wow," Olivia whispered. "I love you to, you little angel."

Elliot, fighting the urge to cry, cleared his throat. "Liv, baby, we gotta go."

"Yeah, we do," a male voice said from behind Elliot.

Elliot turned and raised an eyebrow. "Fin?" he questioned.

"Yeah, Stabler," Fin said, smirking. "I'm your new third."

**A/N: A new case with a new pal, they meet a few new people, and a rough day of training might give them another mind-blowing night. But if you want it all to happen, you gotta make that little button SING!**


	13. Testing, One, Two

**A/N: Fin joined the team. The case they're on now makes them prove their worth, and a day at the academy pushes Elliot too far, leading to one hell of a night.**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. Story belongs to TStabler© Read it? Love it? Review it!**

"The D.A's daughter," Olivia mumbled, walking into the squadroom. "Don't you think this should be handled by actual…"

"You _are _an actual detective, Benson," Cragen snapped, "And if I hear you deny it one more goddamned time, you'll have more paperwork to file than you can possibly imagine!"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, because being eighteen and only slightly familiar with this shit is really…"

"You," Cragen interrupted, pointing at her, "And him," he said, jutting his finger toward Elliot, "Are the most talented detectives I've ever had. With or without extensive training, you're the best I've got. Get a suspect, get a lead, get this over with before the shit hits the fan. When it does, duck." He stormed into his office and slammed the door behind him.

Olivia flinched when the door boomed closed. She was still trying to get used to the fact that her mother wouldn't be behind it, or in front of it. "Okay, then," she said, sipping a cup of coffee as she sat at one of the empty desks, "How the hell do we do this?"

Fin chuckled. "Start with the usual suspects. Boyfriend?"

"She was a lesbian," Olivia said. "A big one. Huge controversy when the D.A. was up for re-election."

"Girlfriend, then?" Fin asked, slowly walking passed Olivia's desk with a smirk on his face.

Elliot shook his head, drinking his own coffee. "Last known girlfriend lives in Boston," he said. "They broke up when she moved into her dorm at Harvard, hasn't been back in a year."

"Okay," Fin said, nodding at Elliot. "What about…"

"What if the girl wasn't the real vic?" Olivia asked, interrupting, furrowing her brow.

"Uh, Liv, honey, she's dead. Raped and killed. She's the vic," Elliot said, looking at her, confused.

Olivia shook her head. "No, what I mean, is that maybe someone assaulted her, killed her, to hurt her father. Hurting the most important thing in someone's life, usually their child, is more effective than actually hurting them. Most parents would rather die than see their kid hurt." Her eyes got foggy, and her head tilted a bit. "Doesn't work, though, when she doesn't give a shit about what happens to her daughter."

"Her?" Fin asked, furrowing his brow.

Olivia's head popped up, her eyes suddenly clear. "Huh? What? No, his. _His_ daughter. We should talk to him, see if he had any enemies. Someone with a grudge."

"Good call, Benson," Fin said, nodding, looking at her warily.

Elliot rose from the chair he was in, looking worriedly at Olivia. Something happened to her, he assumed. The words she said, the look in her eyes, that was all too personal.

* * *

Yawning, Olivia, in blue sweats and a blue, long-sleeved, NYPD shirt, walked into the combat room, with Elliot behind her. The instructor nodded at them, though he didn't exactly approve of _why_ they were late. They took their spots, as Olivia yawned again, and Elliot screwed his eyes shut, squeezing the bridge of his nose. It had been a long, sleepless, rough night, and they were nowhere near solving their case. McCoy had a list of people a mile long that may have wanted to hurt him, and they had only just begun crossing names off of the top.

Olivia jutted her chin toward the corner of the room, and Elliot looked over. Fin was standing in his spot, looking well-rested and chipper.

Yawning, Elliot turned back to her and said, "Yeah, well, he didn't really do much last night."

"He left, El," Olivia said, rubbing her eyes. "He left at midnight, leaving us to do it all by ourselves until five in the goddamned morning. We got nowhere, and he got his beauty sleep."

Elliot chuckled at his partner-slash-girlfriend's cranky attitude, and turned to face the instructor.

"Stabler," the man in a full NYPD gymsuit said, smirking smugly. "And Cassidy. Center, please!"

Elliot shot Olivia a look. "Fucking kidding," he muttered. "I'm half asleep, already pissed off, and he's gonna make me fight with that assbag?"

Olivia smirked. "Looks like it," she said. "Go get him, tiger," she quipped, slapping his ass as he walked toward the floor.

Cassidy had a flicker of fear in his eyes as he walked up to meet Elliot. "Stabler," he said, nodding.

"Cassidy," Elliot spat, like a curse.

The instructor picked up the whistle from around his neck and said, "This should be clean, but give it your all. Cassidy, approach Stabler like a perp. You're the aggressor."

"That should be easy," Elliot said under his breath, snorting.

"Stabler," the instructor said, "You need to defend yourself. I won't stop you unless I see this getting out of hand. Ready?"

The boys nodded.

The instructor blew the whistle. Olivia looked on, moving absently closer to Fin, and her hand shot to her mouth when Cassidy leaped for Elliot, grabbing him around the throat and knocking him to the floor.

Cassidy loomed closer to Elliot, squeezing his throat tighter, and he looked Elliot right in the eyes and said, "How is she in bed, Stabler?"

Elliot coughed, grabbed Cassidy's wrist, and flipped them over, sweeping Cassidy's feet for leverage. He twisted Cassidy's arm back and down, then leaned over, just as Cassidy had done. "You're a son of a bitch, you know that?"

Cassidy chuckled, kicked Elliot off of him, and sprang to his feet. "Just a friendly question," he said. He nailed a shot to Elliot's chin and said, "I do know I'm a son of a bitch. Olivia used to tell me that all the time when we together, when I was trying to get her out of those tight jeans she wears. How the fuck did you do it? Didn't take you that long."

Elliot growled, lowly, and shoved Cassidy back, nailing two solid punches to his face and one to the ribs. "I treated her like she deserves to be treated!" he said to Cassidy, kneeing him in the chest.

"Like a slut?" Cassidy asked, "Just like her mother?" He slugged Elliot and said, "At least with you, she's willing. She's a handful when she fights back. Ya know she bites? The bitch bites."

Elliot lost it. He hurled himself into Cassidy, pummeling him relentlessly. The instructor blew his whistle, but Elliot didn't stop. He kept hitting, feeling flesh tear and bones crack under his weight. "What did you do to her, huh?" he asked, yelling, hitting. "If you hurt her, I swear to God, I'll fucking kill you."

The instructor blew his whistle again, trying to stop him, but seeing Elliot's fists still flying he stormed over and pulled Elliiot off of Cassidy. "Enough, Stabler!" he yelled.

"Sir," Elliot said, struggling for freedom, "He deserved it! He was…"

The instructor leaned in and said, "Yeah, I heard him, Elliot, but you can't fly off the handle like this! You gotta learn to control it. Perps are gonna push your buttons, Stabler. Cassidy was doing that on purpose. Orders."

"Another fucking test," Elliot mumbled. "Who from?"

The instructor shook his head and said, "I can't tell you that. Just know that this is going in your jacket. You have a short fuse. Get out of here, Stabler. Take a cold shower." He shoved Elliot in the direction of the door.

Olivia saw him leaving and ran out after him.

Fin shook his head, chuckling, as he walked over to a bleeding, bruised Cassidy. He looked down and said, "I told you to rile him up, not ask him to kill you. You don't talk about her like that." He picked Cassidy up by the collar and said, "Next time you do, I'll kill you before Stabler does."

Cassidy nodded, though his neck hurt, and allowed Fin to lead him away toward the infirmary, passing a running Olivia on the way.

"Elliot!" Olivia called, running after him as he headed toward their cabin. "El, please, stop!"

Elliot turned around, still angry, and pointed at her. "You told me nothing happened between you and him. Liv, you said you never slept with him. Did you lie to me?"

"What?" Olivia gasped. "No! El, he tried like hell, but I never…"

"Did he hurt you, Liv?" Elliot asked, squinting at her. "You were speaking from experience when you said that people hurt the children of their enemies, so was it him? Did he hurt you to get even with your mother?"

Olivia sighed, almost painfully, and said, "No, Elliot, okay? No. It…it wasn't Cassidy. What the hell happened in there?"

"He called you a…" Elliot stopped, ran his hand down his face, Olivia caught a glimpse of his bloody knuckles. "It was a test, Liv. Another fucking test. Probably one of Cragen's. Cassidy was told to say whatever he could to make me…do exactly what I did." He turned and swiped his card, entering the cabin.

Olivia followed him in, closing the door behind her, and she sighed. "Don't," she said. "Don't do that again, El. I don't care what anyone says about me, just don't…I'm not worth it." She walked over to him and took his hand in hers. She led him to the bathroom, and eased him down onto the toilet seat. She found the peroxide and lifted his hand up over the sink.

"Yes, you are," Elliot finally said. "You're _so_ worth it." He cringed when Olivia poured the peroxide over his knuckles, but he relaxed, and even got a bit turned-on, when she blew on his hand, soothing the burn. "Who hurt you, baby? And what did he do to you?"

Olivia dabbed his knuckles with a paper towel, and cleared her throat. "One of my mother's ex-boyfriends. He didn't…I mean, it's not what you're thinking, El."

"So what was it, Liv?" Elliot asked, softening as he watched Olivia wrap up his hand, the way they'd learned how to .

"He, uh, came into my room in the middle of the night, told me not to say anything, and led me outside," Olivia said, her eyes glazing over like they had done before. "He made me get into his truck, and he drove, God, maybe three hours?" She capped the bottle and put it away and sighed, looking back at Elliot. "When we stopped, he dragged me out of the car, led me to this old house, threw me down the basement steps and locked the door." She shrugged. "He never said a single word to me, and I was down there for, I think, maybe, three days. Could have been four, who the hell knows. There was a fully stocked fridge, so he wasn't trying to starve me. There was a bathroom down there, with soap, clean towels, even shampoo. He cleaned the room and he threw new clothes down to me every morning."

"That…that's really weird, Liv," Elliot said, grabbing her hand.

"He never wanted to hurt me, El," Olivia said, pulling him off of the toilet and out of the bathroom. "He just wanted to make my mother panic, make her suffer. He had no idea that she was too drunk to even realize I was gone. He didn't know that those three or four days were like Heaven for me. When he realized my mother really didn't care where I was, he gave up. He took me home, and my mother actually beat the shit out of _me_ for leaving without telling her." She shrugged again and said, "Told you it wasn't that bad."

Elliot pulled Olivia into the bedroom, sliding his hands down her body, and said, "Liv, I'm never gonna let anyone hurt you. Even if they talk about it, like Cassidy did, even if he was lying, baby. Anyone hurts you, I'm gonna kill them."

"Why?" Olivia asked, honestly not sure of his reasons for loving her. "Why do you care so much?"

Elliot brushed her hair back off of her head, and kissed the end of her nose. "If I knew, Liv, I'd be able to control it. I've fallen completely and hopelessly in love with you. I've never felt this way about anybody, baby, but I'm pretty sure there are no reasons for anything I'm gonna do from now on, other than, well, I love you."

Olivia smoothed her hand over his chest, giving the both of them goosebumps, and she looked into his eyes. "I love you, too, and I love hearing you say that."

Elliot chuckled, pulled her closer, and lifted her shirt over her head. "You're gonna sick of hearing it," he told her.

"No," Olivia said, shaking her head as she pulled Elliot's shirt off, too. "I'm not."

She reached up and cupped his face, pulling him toward her, and just as Elliot laid her down on the bed, Cragen flicked off the monitor.

"Hey!" Fin yelped, "That's like turnin' off the Superbowl when there's five minutes left and the Giants have the ball!"

Cragen rolled his eyes. "They're entitled to some privacy, especially after that stunt you pulled today. They need each other, and theyneed to be alone right now." He sat behind his desk, and sighed. "You really took a chance, Fin. Elliot would have killed Cassidy."

"Scumbag deserved everything Elliot did to him, Cap," Fin said, smirking. "He needed to be put in his place, and you needed to prove your theory."

Cragen nodded. "Right. Stabler's right where we want him."

"What about Benson?" Fin asked, folding his arms.

"Good question," Cragen said, pursing his lips. "Would she do the same thing? React the same way? Save him if she had to?"

Fin smirked. "I think so," he said, "But there's really only one way to find out."

**A/N: Ack! What's gonna happen? Is this their last test? Is this the only option, or is there an alternative? Review and see! **


	14. Three

**A/N: Olivia exceeds expectations, passes her test with flying colors, and Maureen does something surprising!**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. Story belongs to TStabler© Read it? Love it? Review it!**

"Okay," Fin said, looking at Olivia, "One more time, what happened? And will you put the damn gun down?"

Olivia, smirking, cocked the trigger. "I woke up. Elliot was gone. There was blood on the floor in the bathroom. One set of muddy footprints led to the door, there were drag marks in the dirt. You're the only one I know who could carry him like that. So I came here, dragged your ass outta bed, and if you don't tell me where he is, I'm pulling this trigger."

Fin's eyes widened. "What makes you think I know where he is?"

Olivia laughed, her gun still aimed. "You do. He's my partner, he wouldn't leave without me. And I'm not an idiot, Fin. You tried this shit with him. How far would we go, how much is too much, well am I answering your question?"

"You'd really kill me?" Fin asked.

"Yes," Olivia said. "But only if I thought he was in real danger. I'd shoot you. Joints, starting with the ankles, until you fucking told me. Then I'd leave to go get him, call you a bus, and you'd have to pray they got to you in time." She narrowed her eyes. "Where is he?"

Fin smirked. "You really are a detective," he said, shaking his head. "He's at the station. Zonked out. Chloroform will do that."

"The blood?" Olivia asked, tilting her head.

"He was shaving when I grabbed him. Cut his chin," Fin explained. "You followed the clues and figured this out in fifteen minutes?"

Olivia relaxed her grip on her gun, holstered it, and said, "Ten. I've been standing here interrogating you for five." She blinked once then turned running across the academy grounds, on her way to get Elliot.

* * *

Olivia bolted into the squdroom, fuming. "Cragen!" she yelled.

Munch stood up. "He's not here, Benson. Stabler's upst..."

She didn't let him finish. She ran up the stairs and threw open the door. She saw him, sleeping on the first bottom bunk, walked over, and rested a hand on his cheek. Her thumb brushed the scabbed over shaving cut, making him squirm and flinch, and his eyes blinked open.

"Hey," he whispered. "Why are you all the way up there?"

Olivia chuckled and knelt beside him, leaning into him. "Better?"

"Yes," Elliot said, brushing her hair back. He looked around and furrowed his brow. "Why am I here exactly? I don't remem..." Olivia shut him up by dipping her head and kissing him. "What happened, baby?" Elliot asked when he pulled away.

Olivia just shook her head and wrapped her arms around him again, kissing him slowly.

Cragen chuckled as he turned around and headed back down the stairs. "Munch," he said. "Call down to the desk. Tell them we need two staplers, two desk blotters, and order them each a desk set. I just got off the phone with Fin, we're moving their graduation up a bit."

"What?" Munch asked, his eyes widening. "Cap, is that really..."

"Just do it, Munch," Cragen said, before glaring at Fin who had walked in, breathless. "You still think she's just a little girl?"

Fin shook his head. "No," he said. "I think she's a force to be reckoned with, and I don't wanna ever do the reckoning."

* * *

"I can't believe they did this, again," Elliot griped, throwing his jacket down on the couch back at their academy bunkroom.

Olivia shrugged. "They tested you twice, El. Guess this was their way of seeing if I'd go to the same lengths."

"You threatened to kill Fin," Elliot chuckled.

"You threatened to kill Tucker," Olivia countered.

Elliot smirked. Then he wrapped his arms around Olivia, caressing her. "Yeah, I did. But now that we're home, safe and sound, I wanna..."

"Elliot," Bernie's voice rang out from the other side of the room. "Not in front of your daughter."

Elliot turned, wide-eyed. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Helping you pack," she said. "A man named John called me, told me that you two were moving into city owned housing and needed my help. You have to be off these grounds by Friday."

Olivia looked confused. "I don't know what you're talking about Misses Stabler."

Bernie put Maureen down and handed Elliot her phone. "Listen to the voicemail, Elliot," she said.

Elliot took the phone and dialed, as he saw Maureen run to Olivia. He smiled when Olivia scooped her up, smiling, and nuzzled noses with her. He listened to the voicemail and grunted, hanging up. "Great," he spat.

"What?" Olivia said, sounding happy and chipper as she played with the two-year-old.

"Munch," Elliot said, "He told my Mother that we will be graduating the academy on Thursday and they're moving us into an apartment on Friday. Ten blocks from the precinct. He wanted my mother here to help just in case we get called to a..."

Olivia's phone rang before the words even left Elliot's mouth. Maureen giggled, poked Olivia's nose, and said, "Owifuh call!"

Olivia laughed, and said, "Yeah, honey. Olivia got a call." She answered it, saying her last name like she'd been trained to do, and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we can. We'll be right there." She hung up the phone and looked at Elliot, who nodded.

"Mom, can you watch her?" Elliot asked, reaching for his jacket and rolling his eyes.

"Sure, you two have to go," Bernie said, nodding.

Maureen kissed Olivia's nose and said, "Momma no byes." Elliot and Olivia looked shocked. Bernie gasped. Maureen simply hugged Olivia and said, "Wuffu."

Elliot walked over, sensing that Olivia was about to drop Maureen, and took his daughter into his arms. "Daddy and, uh, Mommy, we have to go sweetie," he told his little girl. "You'll be here when we get back, won't you, Ma?"

"Yes," Bernie almost whispered. Then she turned. "You're not her mother," she said, coolly, to Olivia.

"I'm aware of that Misses Stabler," Olivia said, the warmth that had filled her heart moments ago suddenly replaced with a cold emptiness.

"Mom," Elliot said, "Clearly, Maureen thinks she is, and I'm glad for that. She's been more involved...God, Maureen's spent more time with Olivia than she ever did with Kathy. You know that."

"She's not her mother, Elliot," Bernie repeated sternly. She took the little girl from Elliot's arms and said, "She should have been, and one day she might be, but right now...don't confuse your girls."

Elliot gave his mother an odd look, trying to decide if she liked Olivia or not, as he said, "I don't think they're confused. I think Maureen knows exactly what she said, and Olivia knows exactly what she heard."

"We have to go, Elliot," Olivia said, softly, turning around to head out the doors.

Elliot sighed, shaking his head as he followed her.

* * *

"Body dump," Cragen shouted, trying to be heard over the thunder. "Witness saw her being thrown out of the back of a white van. No plates."

Olivia, kneeling down next to the body, shouted back, "She's just a kid!"

"You're Special Victims," Cragen yelled as the lightning flashed and thunder roared over his head. "Sex crimes, the elderly, and children. That was clear in your contract. Which you still haven't really read, I take it."

Olivia was thankful it was raining. The tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at the lifeless body of the barely nine year old girl were masked by the raindrops. The brown hair, wet and sticking to her face, was sticky with blood. The bruises, cuts, and healed-over scabs and scars littering her underwear clad body were a sign of ongoing abuse, Olivia thought some of them looked just like some of hers. She squeezed her eyes shut, shook her head, and made a promise, to herself and her partner, that she would never look at the vic and see herself again. "What do we have here, Doc," she asked, her voice sounding oddly professional.

"Ligature marks around the neck, she was strangled," the medical examiner said. "And I've got fluids on her stomach and thigh. I'll know more when I get her back to the..."

"Yeah," Olivia interrupted, rising to her feet. "Thanks." She glanced at Elliot, jerked her head toward the street, and walked toward the two panic-stricken witnesses.

"While we're out here, in the rain, can you answer a question for me, Captain?" Elliot asked, turning to Cragen.

Cragen nodded. "Ask me anything, Elliot."

Elliot furrowed his brow, still yelling to be heard over the storm. "This morning, why didn't you just tell me you were gonna..."

"Because you would have fought," Cragen interrupted. "You knew Olivia would flip, and you would have done anything to prevent that. Right?"

"Right," Elliot said, narrowing his eyes. "Are you done testing us now? You satisfied that we're willing to do anything to protect each other?"

Cragen nodded. "No more tests," Cragen said, smirking. "You're done. You start, in the station, on Monday, Stabler. And one more thing."

"What?" Elliot asked over his shoulder as he walked toward Olivia.

"Your partner comes first," Cragen said, "But comes second to a vic. Elliot, if you ever have to choose..."

Elliot broke him off. "I'm gonna choose her, Cap. That's reality. But we're never gonna be in that position, because if we watch each other's back the way we're supposed to, then..."

"Good answer, Stabler," Cragen said, nodding. "Your partner's waiting," he said, pointing to Olivia and the witnesses. As he watched Elliot run toward Olivia, Cragen smiled. "Best team I'm ever gonna have."

"How can you tell that already?" Fin asked, folding his arms as he stepped behind Cragen.

"Fin," Cragen said, raising an eyebrow toward him as another crash of thunder sounded, "I knew from the moment their parents signed them up for the program. They're perfect together."

**A/N: Sorry my updates have been short and splotchy. I'm dealing with a very sudden and shocking death in my family, so these last few updates have been written on my phone, where I can't see page or word counts. Writing is taking my mind off of things, and I need the distraction. Leave a review if you'd like. The next chapter will be posted faster that way. Follow me on Twitter, too, if you want. TMG212**


	15. Guidance

**A/N: Now more tests, no more training. Cragen seems to think they're strong enough. But are they? CHAPTER EDITED FOR OFFENDING SOMEONE if you've read it before, and it offended you, I'm truly sorry. It was never my intention. **

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. Story belongs to TStabler© Read it? Love it? Review it!**

"Elliot?" Olivia called into the darkness of their new apartment. "El," she called again, more demanding. She woke up knowing he wasn't in the bed.

"Go back to sleep," Elliot said, pulling on a cotton tee-shirt.

"Where are you going? It's three in the morning!" Olivia spat in a whisper, her voice not fully awake yet.

Elliot shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just go back to…"

"I'm coming with you," Olivia said, getting up and crossing over to her clothes, still in duffle bags in the corner. She had a pair of jeans in her hands when Elliot spoke.

"You're not gonna like where I'm going, Liv," he told her, sighing. "Look, just stay here, go back to bed, I'll be back in an hour."

Olivia proceeded to get dressed. "I'm going with you. You're not leaving me here alone."

"The building's full of cops!" Elliot reminded her.

"Exactly," Olivia said, raising an eyebrow as she slipped her sneakers on.

Elliot cleared his throat and rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. "But I don't wanna hear any comments from the Peanut Gallery when we get there. No jokes, no complaints, don't fucking laugh at me, just stay quiet and let me do my thing, okay?"

"Proctologist offices are open in the middle of the night?" Olivia joked.

"No, Liv," Elliot said, not chuckling, not in the mood. "Churches are."

Olivia swallowed hard. She followed him out of the bare-as-bones apartment, into the hallway, and down the stairs in absolute silence. They walked, still silent, five blocks in until they came to a beautiful Gothic church.

"Saint Thomas's," Elliot said, staring at the intricately carved wooden door. "Beautiful isn't it?"

"Yeah," Olivia said, nodding at the large, stone structure that made her feel incredibly small, in more ways than one.

"Been coming here since I was a kid," Elliot said, his hand reaching for the handle, as if he were stalling. He was still contemplating going inside. "I have an uncle who's a priest here, and all my brothers and sisters went through here. I was baptized in this church. Made my communion and confirmation here. I'll probably get married here."

Olivia crooked her lips to the side in a sad smirk. He wouldn't be marrying her then; she had no desire to take classes about someone she considered imaginary just so she could get married in this place.

Elliot sighed and pulled the heavy door open, and as he stepped into the dimly lit house of God, he heard Olivia gasp. The tiled floor was shiny and even her sneakers clicked as she walked. The pulpit was breathtaking. Carved marble with the largest organ she'd ever seen. Not that she'd seen a lot of them. The stained glass windows that lined the walls were enough to make her cry. She was stunned. She laughed a little, too, because she was so sure people came to church because of their faith. Now, she supposed, they came here to revel in the beauty of the building.

"Gorgeous, right?" Elliot asked, seeing the look on Olivia's face as she looked around.

"Amazing," Olivia said.

Elliot took her hand and let her further into the house, closer to the front. He looked at her, saw the question mark on her face, and said, "I need a little guidance right now, Liv, that's all."

"Your best bet would be to talk to someone who can talk back to you," Olivia said, her atheistic nature shining brightly, despite being in the most beautiful church in the city.

Elliot chuckled. "He does talk back, baby," he said, sliding into a pew. "You just gotta listen really hard."

Olivia shrugged. "Could talk to me, ya know," she mumbled.

"I do, baby," Elliot said, sighing. "You just can't help me with this one."

Olivia scoffed. "Like someone who doesn't exist can," she mumbled.

Elliot shook his head and sighed. He gave her a look.

"Sorry," Olivia said, sitting back in the pew. She studied the amazing windows as Elliot prayed, for something he, apparently, couldn't get from her.

* * *

"The program works, Chief," Cragen said to the chief of detectives, Rick Daniels, standing in his office. "These two are proof. It really works."

"It's working because they're being thrust into situations that cause intense emotional reactions, Don," Daniels replied. "Of course they're going to…I mean, they latched onto the only other person that understands! What do you think is gonna happen when their contracts expire? What then? If one of them decides they wanna go back to school and lead a normal life, since we ripped that chance away from them…"

"I can guarantee you, that won't happen," Cragen said. "Their jackets, so far," he said, handing the man two folders. "Take a look at that."

"You've worked them harder and faster than humanly possible, you've pushed them to their limits, Don," Daniels said, flipping through the files.

"And look what it has made them!" Cragen shouted.

"Machines," Daniels said. "You've made them into fucking machines. But you did do what you set out to do, Don, I'll give you that. You got them to trust each other, you got them to let part of themselves go and let someone in, to keep them from destroying themselves. What they were given to us for. You've also got one hell of a team on your hands, it seems."

Cragen nodded. "Yes, Sir. I do," he said.

Daniels sighed. "The first moment, the very first sign, of their personal interactions interfering with…"

"Sir, those rules don't apply to them," Cragen said firmly.

Daniels smirked. "They do now."

* * *

Elliot, sitting with his head in his hands and elbows on his knees, sighed and looked up at Olivia. "You really wanna know?"

"Doesn't matter. You said I can't help you," Olivia said. "Talk to the invisible man some more. Ya know, not enough people believe in Him these days, you're probably making Him feel pretty damn useful right now."

"Don't do that, Liv," Elliot said dejectedly. "What I believe and what you believe are different, I get that, but you don't have to…"

"I know," Olivia interjected. "I'm sorry, I'm just…uncomfortable here. Like, I feel that I have no right even sitting in a place like this."

Elliot sat up straighter and looked at her harder. "Everyone has a right to be here," he said. "You especially, because you're here with me." He took her hand in his, stroking the back of it with his thumb. "I'm gonna tell you a story," he said.

"If it starts with 'Once upon a time' I'm leaving," Olivia joked.

Elliot chuckled. "It doesn't," he promised. "A year ago, I was lost. I was heading down this self-destructive path. Drinking. Smoking. Sleeping with Kathy even though I wasn't really with her anymore," he listed. "I got a little too drunk one night and took a walk. A really long walk. I don't remember what I did, who I met. I do remember slugging a guy for asking me what time it was." He paused to scoff at his own behavior. "Anyway, I ended up here, in this pew, looking up at the cross and crying. I was asking Him to give me strength, Liv. I didn't think I could do it anymore."

"Well. Shit," Olivia said, stunned.

Elliot chuckled. "Yeah," he said. "Six months later, I found out that psycho was hurting my kid and I flipped shit on him, and get thrown into the program. I laughed, even though it really wasn't funny, and came back here the night I signed that damned contract. I asked why, why instead of helping me be strong, instead of giving me what I'd been praying for, He completely gave up on me."

"At least you had Him for a little while," Olivia said, looking at Elliot.

"No, Liv, I'm not done," Elliot said, smirking. "The next day, at school, Tucker played that tape and I ran like hell, and I met you. I knew, then, that God was giving me what I prayed for. You gave me strength, you made me want to be a better person, a better cop, a better man. You pulled me out of the slump I was in, and now, Liv, I don't think there's a single thing in this world I can't do without you by my side. That's the kind of power you give me. The kind of power you have over me," he said, slightly shrugging. "I came here tonight to thank Him…and I was praying for you."

"For me?" Olivia asked, her brow furrowing.

Elliot nodded. "You're way too strong, baby, and there are times when I think it's all just an act. I was asking Him to help you let go of some of those ropes that are tying you down, the walls that are holding you back, help you heal."

"I don't need Him to help me do that," Olivia said, her lips curling slightly at the words that had left his mouth. "I got you, and that's exactly what you're doing for me. I'm not faithless, Elliot. I don't believe in God, wow, but that doesn't mean I haven't put my faith in something…someone…else."

"Me," Elliot gathered.

Olivia nodded.

Their eyes locked, and there was silence. Tension filled the air between them. Elliot moved first, pretty damn sure God would be forgiving enough to look passed what he was about to do. He brushed his hand over her cheek and wrapped it around the back of her neck, pulling her toward him, and he kissed her.

Olivia jumped at first, not expecting a kiss like this from Elliot in a church. She relaxed into it and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. he thanked God, silently, for the woman in his arms. Letting go of her lips, he sighed, nuzzling her as he continued to seek guidance from someone Olivia didn't think was there.

* * *

"Where are they?" Munch asked, looking around Olivia and Elliot's new place.

"No clue," Fin answered. "Saw them leave, called you as soon as they were gone."

Munch picked up a hardbacked novel, flipped through it, then tossed it back into the box. "They didn't even unpack yet, Fin. What are you expecting to find?"

"Proof," Fin said.

"Proof of what? I thought I was the conspiracy freak," Munch said, shaking his head.

Fin picked up their mail, rifled through it, and dropped all but one envelope. "Her mother knows where she is," he said, holding up the envelope. "She was released two days ago. She found Olivia."

**A/N: Next: A new case, their first as "real" detectives. How to the rest of the crew treat them? And what does Olivia do when she realizes Serena's been watching her? **


	16. Following

**A/N: A new case, their first as "real" detectives. How to the rest of the crew treat them? And what does Olivia do when she realizes Serena's been watching her?**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. Story belongs to TStabler© Read it? Love it? Review it!**

Olivia had just come out of the shower when Elliot's phone rang. "Stabler," he spat, watching Olivia standing in front of him in her towel, waiting to find out if she needed to put on clothes or crawl into bed naked. "Yeah, Fin," he said. "We'll be right there."

"Clothes it is," Olivia said to herself, rifling through her newly filled drawers for jeans and a shirt. "What have we got?"

"Eighteen-year-old, raped and killed outside of the student union at Hudson University," Elliot said robotically, getting up to get fresh clothes on. "Still upset you're not in college?" he asked, pulling on a tee shirt. "That could have been you."

Olivia tugged on her shirt, straightening it out, and shook he head. "No, it couldn't have. I'd be okay," she said, dismissing the shiver that went up her spine when he had said that.

"Liv, seriously, we both know it cold have," Elliot said. "And if you had been...shit, I know you can take care of yourself, I'm not saying you can't..."

"I know what you're saying," Olivia interrupted. "I just don't wanna think about it, okay?" She bit her bottom lip. Elliot knew she was hiding something. She looked up at him and said, "I'm here, not there, being an adult, not a kid."

"Were you ever a kid?" Elliot asked, looping his belt through his jeans.

"No, I wasn't," Olivia said, meaning it in so many ways. "That's kind of why this pisses me off. I didn't have a childhood, so I wanted to go to college, have fun, make mistakes," she said, scoffing. "Here I am, Detective Benson, responsible and manipulated into a disciplined...machine."

"So you didn't get to goo off and party with kids your own age. Neither did I. But we've made some mistakes, though, haven't we?" Elliot asked, pulling on his sneakers.

Olivia looked at him quizzically. "Yeah, a few of them. I'm realizing that now." She pulled her NYPD hoodie on and bolted from the room, leaving Elliot stunned, wondering why she got so upset.

* * *

"What do you see, Detective?" the young medical examiner asked Olivia. He was the only one talking to her and Elliot. The rest of the officers and crime scene investigators looked at them with disdain, and they were both called "kid," as if learning their names was too much of a hassle.

"She knew her attacker," Olivia said. "Very few defensive wounds, meaning she trusted him enough to let him get close to her. Idiot."

Elliot looked at her funny. "Something bothering you, Liv?" he asked,

"Not at all," Olivia said, sounding slightly sarcastic. "She was wearing a necklace, too. It was yanked off of her so hard it left marks," she said, running a gloved hand over the girl's neck.

"What the hell are you two wearing?" Cragen barked, walking up to the scene.

"You'd rather us wear pajamas?" Olivia asked, bitterly. "It's one in the morning!"

Cragen sighed. "Suits," he said. "At work you wear suits. Stabler, you have to wear a tie, too."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Now I can't even dress my own age."

"Not at work," Cragen snapped back. "What have you got here?"

Elliot shook his head. "Raped, killed by a blow to the head, probably with one of the bloody rocks we found. Liv thinks she knew her attacker, and she's missing a necklace."

Cragen nodded "Okay, get back to the station, start looking into her classmates and roommates until we get data from the lab."

Olivia wasted no time, walking toward the car. Elliot shot Cragen a worried look, and then followed her, waiting until he started the car to ask, "Okay, what did I do?"

Olivia shook her head. "Just drive," she said.

Elliot refused, shaking his head. "Not till you tell me what I did..."

"You think we made a mistake?" Olivia asked, interrupting. "You think being with someone like me is a mistake! Is that what God told you last night?"

Elliot's eyes narrowed in confusion, then widened in realization. "God, no! Baby, that's not what I meant! I meant...you beating the shit out of your mom, me having a kid at sixteen and then being a pompous ass, I meant in the past. Not now!" He pulled out of the spot he was in and started driving.

Olivia bit her lip and looked at him. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm just so used to people..."

"Giving up on you?" Elliot asked. "Me, too. But Liv, I'm not gonna do that! I thought you trusted..."

"I do trust you," Olivia said, desperate to get him to believe her. "I just thought that after last night, in the church..."

"I told you that it didn't matter to me, Liv," Elliot said softly. "It doesn't matter what you believe, or what you don't. You said you had faith in me, and you're making that really hard to believe."

"El, it's not you I don't have faith in," Olivia confessed. "It's me."

"Do you love me?" Elliot asked, pulling into a space at the precinct.

Olivia looked at him, in the eyes. "You know I do."

"Then just let me love you back," Elliot said, smirking a bit. "Stop trying to run from this. From me. No matter what you're hiding, baby, I. Do. Not. Care."

Olivia's eyes widened. "How did you..."

"I know you, Liv," Elliot interjected. "I'm scared, too, ya know? We realized just how very real this thing between us is, and you're terrified of getting hurt. So am I, baby, but I know that I'm not gonna hurt you. No matter who hurt you in the past, I'm gonna make it go away, somehow."

"I...yeah," Olivia whispered, leaning over the console to wrap her arms around him. "I'm sorry, El."

Elliot returned her hug, and kissed her tenderly, "Don't be sorry, baby, just don't do it again. Be with me, Liv, and don't be afraid to do it completely."

Olivia nodded into his neck, gently kissing him, and she pulled away smiling.

"Better?" Elliot asked, brushing her hair back.

"Much," Olivia said. She moved to get out of the car, catching something out of the corner of her eye. She gasped and slammed the door, getting back inside. "Shit! Drive, El," she said.

"What's wrong?" Elliot asked, starting the car again. "Baby?"

"Just drive! Go back!" Olivia begged. "Fast!"

Elliot peeled out of the lot, speeding back to the scene, figuring the best place to be would be near Cragen "Honey, who did you see? What's got you so spooked?" he asked, scared.

Olivia, scooting closer and clutching onto his arm, said, "My mother."

* * *

"You knew?" Elliot threw at Fin and Cragen as they stood in the lobby of the student union. "You knew and you did nothing to protect her?"

Fin sighed. "We weren't sure she needed protectin,' Stabler."

"What are we gonna do about this?" Elliot asked, folding his arms. "She knows where we live, where we work!"

"You'll be watched," Cragen said.

"No," Olivia said, shaking her head. "I don't want her to...if I let her affect my life like this, she wins. I panicked when I saw her," she told them. "I'm better now. And hey, I carry a gun, how close is she really gonna get to me before I shoot her?"

Elliot chuckled, but Cragen rolled his eyes. "You're in this department because you assaulted her, now you wanna shoot her."

"You have no idea what she did to me! No idea!" Olivia yelled. "The people she brought in and out of my life, I had to...I did what I had to do to get away from her alive, and you people were just as fucking horrible. The world would not suffer a great loss if I took out Serena Benson! Trust me!"

Fin caught Elliot's eye, and suddenly something made sense to Elliot. Something clicked. Why she was terrified to let him get closer, why she was so scared to dive in completely, why she was so afraid of giving him one-hundred-percent of herself. "Oh, my God," he gasped to himself. "Liv."

"Shut up, El," Olivia spat, snapping toward him. "Please, don't say it."

Elliot gave her a calming look. "Okay," he said.

Fin spoke up. "Olivia, did any of these people..."

"They tried like hell," Olivia yelled. "My mother even sold me to one of them for the night, but thank God I have a killer left hook." She ran a hand through her hair and said, "He got his money's worth from her, though, and boy was she pissed off. Wanna see the scar?"

"Olivia," Cragen warned.

"No, really, wanna see it?" Olivia asked again, pulling her sweatshirt over her head. She tugged down the collar of her tee-shirt and titled her head, revealing a deep, light, line, four inches long. "Any deeper and I wouldn't have made it."

Elliot squeezed his eyes shut. She had told him the story, but never gave him the reason.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fucking kill her, now that I can," Olivia demanded, not noticing the hurt in Cragen's eyes.

"Because," Elliot said softly, "That would make you just like her, and that's exactly what you're afraid of."

Olivia looked at him, stunned, and straightened up.

Elliot reached out his hand, grabbing hers, and said, "I told you I know you."

Cragen took a breath and said, "We'll have someone follow you, an unnoticeable distance. We'll put officers in a car outside your place, I promise, she'll never notice, she won't know, Olivia. When we catch her in the act, we'll get her."

Olivia nodded and tugged on Elliot's hand, asking him to take her back to the station. "We have work to do," she said.

"Fin," Cragen said, nodding at him.

"Right," Fin said, getting into his car and following, a good distance, behind Olivia and Elliot.

Looking into the rearview mirror, Olivia sighed. "I'm not gonna be like my mother," she said, watching Fin make the same left turn they did.

"I know that," Elliot said with a smirk.

"That's why, you know," Olivia said, softly, dropping her eyes.

"What's why what?" Elliot asked, confused.

"Why I don't believe in God," Olivia said. "How could He, if He really existed, give an innocent child that life, let her do what she did and what she tried to do and get away with it all?"

Elliot looked at her as they stopped at a red light. "He wanted to make you strong, Liv. He didn't give you anything you couldn't handle, and look at what it's made you, what those experiences have turned you into." He smiled at her a bit and shrugged. "He had to do what he needed to do to give you to me."

"This again?" Olivia chuckled. "El, I am not a gift from God."

Elliot pulled into the same spot he had before, and watched from the mirror as Fin pulled into one a few cars away. "Yes, you are, Liv," he said, getting out of the car. He walked around to help her out of the vehicle, and as soon as she was up and in his arms, the shots were fired.

**A/N: What shots? Who was firing at whom? If they survive, will Elliot ever get Olivia to have a little faith? If so, will Maureen help? And how do they handle the case? Answers, coming at ya. if you click and review! **


	17. Seeing Things

**A/N: Pressure mounts. And Maureen comes home. **

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story belongs to TStabler©**

Elliot pulled Olivia flush against him and dropped to the ground. "What the hell is that?" he asked, looking around as they both pulled out their guns.

"No fucking clue," Olivia said, cocking the trigger. She popped her head up around thefront of the car and fired off one shot, before three came back at her. She leaped back into Elliot's arms, feeling him clutching her. "I'm just gonna stay here, then," she said.

"Good idea, baby," Elliot said, nodding, trying to breathe. They heard more shots, then the slamming of doors and screeching of tires. Then footsteps.

Fin, out of breath, ran over to them. "You two all right?" he asked.

Elliot ran his hands over Olivia, checking, then looked up at Fin. "Yeah, man," he said. "What happened?"

"Someone shot at you," Fin retorted.

"Really?" Olivia asked in her usual sarcastic manner. "Fucking who, Fin?"

Fin shrugged. "No idea," he sighed. "Wasn't a woman," he told them. "Go. Get inside. I will be right out here waitin', watchin'. If he comes back, he's mine."

Elliot got up first, then pulled Olivia to her feet, hoping Fin would be able to protect them. He led Olivia into the doors, looking over his shoulder to see Fin, holstering his gun and getting back into his car. He squeezed Olivia's hand tighter as they walked up the stairs, and when he entered their apartment, he gasped. "Mom," he said, questioning, when he walked into the living room.

"Elliot," Bernie replied. "Maureen's asleep. You should expect me here at six tomorrow morning, but if you need me before then, call and I will be here in five minutes."

"What are you…oh," Elliot paused, realizing. "Right. Okay, uh, thank you." He hugged Bernie, and stepped aside to let Olivia into the room.

Bernie's eyes landed on Olivia, and she scoffed. "Well, I guess you can call me, too, if you have to, Olivia."

"Gee, thanks, Misses Stabler," Olivia said, sarcastic enthusiasm dripping from her words. She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and stepped into the little girl's room, leaving Elliot and his mother alone. She walked over to Maureen, smiling into the little bed. She brushed the child's hair back, kissed her forehead, and chuckled when the tiny girl smiled in her sleep.

"You really love her, don't you?" Bernie's voice called from the doorway.

Olivia didn't look up, but said, "Yes. I do. Is that a problem?"

"Most of Elliot's girlfriends ran for the hills when they found out he had a daughter," Bernie said. "You're here out of obligation to the police department, Olivia, not because..."

"Misses Stabler," Olivia interrupted, looking up at her. "I fell in love with your son, and his daughter, and it had nothing to do with the job we have to do. Sure, I wouldn't have even bothered talking to him if we hadn't been sucked into this crazy situation, but we were. I didn't expect to feel anything for him, I didn't expect to even like him, but I do. I love him. And I love Maureen. More than I probably should, but it's the truth. Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

Bernie smirked. "Honey, it wasn't me who didn't understand it," she said. "I needed _you_ to understand it."

Elliot, next to her, raised an eyebrow. "You've been giving her hell so she would defend her feelings for me to you?"

"She needed to stand up to me, Elliot. It was the only way to prove to her that she deserves you, that you deserve each other," Bernie said. "Don't make my mistake, Olivia. You found him. Keep him." She turned and kissed her son on the cheek, then let herself out.

Elliot stepped into the room and wrapped his arms around Olivia, holding her close as they looked down at sleeping Maureen. "You have to do what she says, Liv. No one disobeys Bernadette Stabler and lives to talk about it."

Olivia chuckled. "I wasn't planning on disobeying her, El. I have no intention of letting you go. Besides, your daughter 'wuf's' me too much, I can't let either of you go."

"Hey, Liv?" Elliot questioned with a smile.

"Yeah?" Olivia returned, turning around in his arms to smile back at him.

Elliot kissed her slowly, making it last, and when he pulled away, he looked into her eyes, and said, "Wuffu."

Olivia shook her head, chuckling, as she kissed him again. "I wuffu, too, El."

* * *

Elliot woke up to the sound of water splashing and laughing. He looked around, blinking, and he glanced at the clock. "Five?" he asked himself. He pushed himself out of the bed and wandered into the bedroom. "Liv? Baby?" He saw her and his heart swelled.

"Hi, Daddy," Olivia said, smiling. "You just missed the world's messiest bath! Say good morning to Daddy, sunshine." She tickled Maureen, earning a giggle.

Maureen, being wrapped in a frog towel, was giggling and smiling as she looked up at Elliot. "Daddy!" she squealed. "Wuffu!"

"I love you, too, muppet," Elliot said, ruffling her wet hair. "You certainly got water everywhere, didn't you?"

Maureen laughed and nodded. "Spalsh!" she yelped, laughing.

"My silly girl," Elliot said, scooping her up. "Let's let Liv dry off, and we'll get you dressed and ready for grandma, huh?" He bent over and kissed Olivia, then took Maureen into her room to get her dressed.

Olivia got up on her feet, shook herself off, and changed, too, heading into the kitchen when she was done. She opened the fridge, took out the eggs and bacon, and wandered to the counter. She put the food down and bent down to get the frying pan out of the low cabinet. When she got back up, she saw someone staring at her and gasped. She dropped the pan and ran into Maureen's bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Liv?" Elliot called, worried. "Baby, what happened?"

Olivia shook her head, panicking, and said, "Mother. Outside."

"What?" Elliot gasped. "Where the hell is Fin?"

"I don't know," Olivia said shaking her head.

"Well, we can't stay in my daughter's bedroom all day," Elliot said, pushing Olivia aside. He ran into the bedroom he shared with Olivia, grabbed his gun, and ran into the kitchen, aiming. "No one's here, Liv!" he yelled.

Olivia walked out into the hallway, slowly, with Maureen in her arms. "Are you sure?" she asked, taking her time getting to him. "El, I'm sorry. I did it again. I panicked over nothing, I mean, I'm probably not even really seeing her."

"Liv, baby, I think you did see her," Elliot affirmed. "Look," he said, pointing to the broken window over the sink, and the rock lying on the counter. He walked over and surveyed the damage, and he saw the letter wrapped around the rock. He backed away, slowly, and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Cragen's number and waited. "Cap? Stabler," he said. "We need you. Now."

**A/N: Short, as I have to be at rehearsal in fifteen minutes, and wanted to get this up for you. More is coming! What did that letter say? Where was Fin? Who was shooting at them? And more of Maureen! If you want it, tell me, here with a review or on Twitter TMG212!**


	18. One Thing To Do

**A/N: What did that letter say? Where was Fin? Who was shooting at them? **

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story belongs to TStabler©**

Cragen and a team of officers arrived at Olivia and Elliot's apartment, ten minutes after the phone call, to see what had happened. Cragen ran in and saw Elliot and Olivia, arms wrapped around each other, on the couch, holding a sleeping Maureen on their laps.

"What happened?" Cragen asked, sighing.

Elliot pointed to the broken kitchen window. "Liv's mom made a special delivery," he said, handing Cragen the still-sealed letter.

"You didn't read it?" Cragen asked Olivia, stunned.

"I'm not interested in anything she has to say," Olivia said, brushing Maureen's hair back as she slept.

Cragen smirked as he opened the letter, but his face fell immediately as he read it. "You might be interested in this," he said, handing the paper to Olivia.

Olivia moved the doll-like child's head out of her lap, into Elliot's as she read the letter, and she gasped. "Oh, my God," she whispered. She ran a hand down her face, closing her eyes, trying not to show any fear. "Oh, God," she mumbled, standing up. She walked into the bedroom, crumpling the note in her palm.

"Liv," Elliot said, "Wait." He rose from the couch, laying his daughter down. He kissed her on the forehead and ran into the bedroom after Olivia. "Baby, what did it say? What the hell are you doing?"

Olivia, throwing clothes into a duffle bag, said, "He found me. I don't know how, but he found me," she babbled, throwing more clothes into the bag. "My mother swore that he would one day, and when he did, she wouldn't stop him...shit, but she was always drunk, so I didn't believe her!"

"Baby, slow down," Elliot said, ripping the shirts out of her hands and grabbing them, keeping her still. "Who found you?"

Olivia, squeezing his hands unconsciously, said, "My father."

"Wait," Elliot said, confused, "Your mother was trying to warn you? That doesn't make any..."

"She wasn't warning me, El. Hell, she wants the bastard to kill me. She was warning you," Olivia said, ripping her hands away from him. She continued packing. "As long as I'm here, you and Maureen are...he'll kill you to get to me. I have to get out of here."

Elliot stopped her again, pulling her toward him, roughly. "Liv, you are leaving over my dead body."

Olivia's eyes widened, she sighed and said, "Don't say that."

"Sorry," Elliot said, letting out a light chuckle. He brushed her hair back and said, "Baby, you're a cop. I'm a cop. We're surrounded by fucking cops! We're completely safe."

Olivia sighed, wrapping her arms around him. "I know that," she whispered. "I do, I just...if anything happened to you or Maureen..."

"That's never gonna happen," Elliot interrupted. "I promise. You just panicked. Again."

Olivia laughed as she nodded. "Yeah, I gotta stop doing that," she said, sounding as if she had just made a decision.

"Yeah," Elliot said, kissing her. "You do. Look, we gotta go. Let's let Cragen handle this, call my mom, and get to work. We have people to interview, and DNA results should be back by..."

"Christ," Olivia spat, harshly, stepping away from him to make sure her gun and badge were in place.

"What now?" Elliot asked, furrowing his brow. "Honey, work will get your mind off of..."

Olivia interrupted him, yet again. "I'm never going to have a normal life, am I?" she asked bitterly, hypothetically. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "Only one thing to do then."

"What's that, baby?" Elliot asked, seeing something flash in her eyes.

Olivia looked up at him with a stern, serious expression. She smirked, then, and said, "Stop giving a shit about it." The same thing flashed in her chocolate eyes as Elliot stared into them. She cupped his face, pulled him to her, and gave him a long, hard, deep kiss.

This kiss felt different, Elliot thought. Olivia felt different. She felt stronger; she felt as if she had finally let go of something she'd been holding onto for far too long. Fear, he concluded. That was it. She pulled back from the kiss, and looked into his blue eyes. She looked so unafraid.

"Liv?" Elliot questioned, raising an eyebrow.

She smirked at him, winked, and left the room, leaving Elliot to wonder what the hell had just happened to her, and how he was supposed to work now that he was more turned on by her than he had ever been.

* * *

"Where the hell were you?" Cragen barked at Fin, who came into the squadroom an hour late. "You were supposed to be watching Olivia and Elliot!"

Fin tilted his head. "Okay, what did I miss?"

"Benson's mother paid them a little visit," Munch said, peering over his shades. "Left a note, basically telling us who shot at them, but didn't give us much..."

"How would she know who Brian Cassidy even is?" Fin interrupted.

"Woah," Olivia said, folding her arms. "Cassidy?"

Fin nodded. "He showed up at your building in the middle of the night. Was trying to get into the place. I approached him, asked who he was there to see, and he said you. I hauled him in and was down on two interrogating him. Well, until I realized I was late."

"It wasn't him, Fin," Olivia said, firmly. "It couldn't have been."

Fin chuckled. "That what he keeps saying," he said.

"Because it wasn't," Olivia said, stepping closer. "It was my father. Whoever the fuck that is," she stated.

Elliot looked at Olivia, a questioning gaze in his eyes. "Liv, baby, if your father was the one shooting at us, then why the hell was Cassidy trying to get into our building?"

Fin's eyes widened, he said, "I'll be back later," and he left the room, heading back down to the major crimes division to talk to Cassidy again. He didn't believe what Brian was telling him, but now, it seemed, he didn't have a choice.

**A/N: Short, yes, as the show I am in opened tonight. But it gets the point of the chap across, and (hopefully) leaves you wanting more! Review, here! Or leave a tweet TMG212 on Twitter! Or BOTH! Thank you for reading!**


	19. Another Challenge

**A/N: How is the case going? What is up with Fin and Cassidy? Do we even find out? And what are Olivia and Elliot thrown into now? Short. Again. Written on the crap boardwalk we went to today, so this is what resulted. Hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU, characters and locations. TStabler© owns this story. She shares it with you for your entertainment, enjoyment, and hopes that it will make you laugh, cry, think, hope, love and leave a review! Here, or follow me on Twitter. TMG212**

Fin was still somewhere talking to Cassidy about something he wouldn't discuss, Munch was at his desk taking phone calls from other students at the university who claimed to be victims or almost-victims of rape, since they saw the story on the news, and Olivia and Elliot were trying to put pieces together. They had DNA but he didn't come up in the system. They had prints, but, again, they returned no results from the search programs.

"So," Olivia began, "He's never been arrested, he's not a city or state employee, he's not military, and he's never been fingerprinted at school."

"So...she was raped by a ghost," Elliot said, tossing a tennis ball into the air and catching it.

"Basically," Olivia said, biting the inside of her lip in a pensive way.

"Then how the hell are we supposed to catch this guy?" Elliot asked, tossing the ball, catching it again. "We can't really go knocking on dorm room doors, asking, 'Excuse me, sometime between physics and anthropology, did you rape and kill one of your classmates?"

Cragen plopped two files in front of them, smirking, and said, "You won't have to."

Olivia picked up the file with her name scrawled on the tab. She flipped it open with a confused expression on her face. "I'm reading this right, right? We're doing this? Actually posing as students?"

Elliot took Olivia's file and read it, breathing a sigh of relief.

Cragen chuckled. "You're both taking the same classes. You have the same schedules. You need to look for this guy, and look out for each other at the same time." He looked at Elliot and said, "Not that I need to say this, but don't let her out of your sight. If this guy's targeting..."

"I know," Elliot interrupted. "You don't need to go there with me, Cap."

Cragen nodded. "You will start classes tomorrow, looking for anyone who fits the profile, anyone who seems suspicious. Benson, ask the girls questions. Be their friend, earn their trust. Stabler, milk the guys for information. Be the asshole, talk about this like she was asking for it, see if anyone fesses up. Play this from both angles."

Elliot looked at Olivia and shrugged. "Well, baby. You get to go to college after all."

Olivia ripped the file out of his hands, made a face, and hit him with it. He smiled at her, softly, thinking for the first time in his life, he got something right.

Fin came through the door then, shaking his head. "Seems all Cassidy really wanted to do was talk to you. I overreacted," he said. "He wanted to see if you guys would talk to us about getting him back in."

"Why would we do that?" Olivia asked, catching the ball Elliot had tossed to her.

Fin shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "But I'm gonna find out."

* * *

They had gotten home a few hours later, had dinner with Bernie, and we just seeing her out.

"Thanks again, Mom," Elliot said, letting Bernie out the door.

"My pleasure, dear," Bernie replied, smiling at her son. "I only wish the little darling could have stayed awake long enough to see you." She hugged him, making him feel guilty the way she always did. Then she looked at Olivia. "Good night, Olivia," she said, expecting some witty, sarcastic remark.

"Good night, Misses Stabler," Olivia said sweetly, wrapping her arms around Elliot.

Bernie looked stunned. "All right, see you in the morning," she said. She opened the door, walked out, and closed the door behind her, still baffled that Olivia hadn't given her a single eye-roll.

"Baby," Elliot said, turning to Olivia, "You were actually nice to her."

Olivia smiled. "I know, El. I have to get used to her, because I'm not going anywhere."

"Yeah, you are," Elliot said with a smirk.

"Where?" Olivia asked, confused.

Elliot picked her up, kissed her, and carried her backwards. "To the bedroom," he said against her lips. He felt her laugh more than he heard her, as the kiss deepened. He dropped her gently onto the bed, He never broke the kiss as he unbuttoned her shirt and slowly slid it off her satin smooth skin.

Olivia moaned as she felt his fingers graze her body. She held her head to hers, keeping the kiss going strong as he unhooked and removed her bra, then skimmed his hands down her body, dipping them into the waistband of her pants, unsnapping them and sliding them down, too.

The kiss broke then, as Olivia felt the need to flip them over. She kicked off her pants and hurriedly unbuttoned Elliot's shirt, practically tearing it off of him. He helped her get him out of his pants, and when they were both naked, he reached into their end-table for a condom. He grabbed one and tore it open, handing it to Olivia who did the honors.

Elliot moaned, more of a grunting groan, as Olivia slid the rubber sheath onto him, then moved over his body herself. He shook his head and made a very quiet, "uh-uh" noise as he flipped them over again, regaining control. He looked down at her, right into her eyes, as he pushed in. He watched her eyes widen, not close, and he heard her whisper his name. He loved this moment. Each and every time it happened, it hit him, right in the heart.

Olivia ran her hands up his back and scraped her nails down, soothing the working muscles. She met him thrust for thrust as he moved, the whole time whispering nothing but his name, maybe a few soft "Oh, God's". She looked into his eyes when she could, when they weren't squeezed shut in pleasure, or closed because they were kissing. She wrapped her legs around him as he began to move faster, telling him, "Baby, you feel amazing, El," and throwing her head back into the pillow beneath her.

"You do," Elliot said as he peppered her chest with kisses. "God, Liv, you feel incredible," he murmured. "I love you," he grunted, moving faster still, holding her legs up, wrapping her tighter around him.

Olivia wanted to scream, she wanted to let the entire building hear what was going on, how phenomenal Elliot was, and how he was making her feel, bit the sleeping child in the next room kept her from doing that, and instead she opted to pull the pillow out from under her head and hold it over her face.

Elliot grunted, ripped the pillow away and said, "Need to see your face." He hit into her over and over again, caressing the parts of her body that most men often neglect during sex. The backs of her legs, wrapped around his back; her lower back; her stomach; her neck; her face; then he felt it happening. He felt her tightening. He felt her starting to build up to what he knew was going to be a grand release. He bent over and pulled her up a bit, kissing her a bit roughly as he slammed hard into her. He kept up this new, hard, slow, pace until she finally let go, taking him with her.

Olivia screamed into the kiss, thankful he was there to muffle the sound, and she mumbled his name, "Elliot, oh, God, El," like a prayer, a mantra, over and over.

Elliot brushed her hair back as he pumped into her, cumming himself, and grunting her name in response. Calming her down was his priority, she always came first. "I love you," he whispered, collapsing onto the bed, pulling her down with him, rolling them over one last time. He pulled her on top of him, tugged the blanket around them, kissed her forehead, and repeated it. "I love you."

"I love you," Olivia returned, closing her eyes and trying to breathe.

"Sleep," Elliot said, kissing her eyelids. "We have work, then class."

Olivia chuckled. "That's still work."

"We can pretend we have normal lives," Elliot said. "For a little while. Can't we."

Olivia looked up at him, kissed him deeply, making him moan. She pulled away and looked into his eyes as she said, "Our lives are normal, baby. For us, they are as normal as they're ever going to get. I got that."

Elliot smiled at her as he reached out to turn out the light. He knew she finally understood what they had really gotten themselves into, she had finally realized what it all meant, and she had finally let it all simply be what is was: her life. "You finally listen to me, when I decide to listen to you," he said, kissing her again, snuggling close to her and closing his eyes.

Olivia sighed into his chest and said, "That's the way we work, El."

And it was. It really was.

* * *

Back at the station, Cragen sighed as he put the last file down on his desk. He looked over at Fin and shook his head. "None of these guys could possibly be her father," he said.

"Our only option here is to find Serena, get her in here, get her talking," Fin said, shrugging.

"Serena Benson has no desire to save her daughter," Cragen said, tilting his head with a scoff as he got out of his seat.

Fin smirked. "But I bet she'd want to at least try to save her granddaughter." He held up a picture of Maureen.

"What? Stabler's kid isn't Olivia's," Cragen said, grabbing his coat.

Fin rose, turned out his desk lamp, and said, "Serena doesn't know that."

**A/N: Will Serena talk to save Maureen? How do Elliot and Olivia fit in at school? What do they learn from their first undercover gig? What does Cassidy want? More, if you want it! Review here, or leave a tweet. TMG212 on Twitter. **


	20. A Little Class

**A/N: Olivia and Elliot try to fit in at school, while keeping who they really are a secret. Deja Vu? Serena Benson shows a caring side. Brian Cassidy isn't ready to let Olivia go, so what does he do about it? **

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU, characters and locations. TStabler© owns this story. She shares it with you for your entertainment, enjoyment.**

Olivia looked down at her notebook, then back up at the professor. She was trying to grasp onto every word, hold onto everything he said.

"Liv," Elliot said, leaning over, "It doesn't really matter if you take notes or not, ya know. We aren't really getting grade..."

"Shh," Olivia hushed, writing intently.

Elliot smirked at her, then leaned back in his seat. She was taking this job seriously, and she looked good doing it. She looked so young, with her hair up in a high ponytail, her bangs loosely swept over her eyes. She was wearing jeans and a slightly large concert tee-shirt. Elliot thought she looked so pretty as he sighed, staring at her. He was pretty sure no one else knew that under the exterior of what seemed to be a dedicated college student in plain, comfortable clothes, was the body, heart, and soul of trained, mechanical cop, complete with badge and gun. That thought alone turned him on more than anything. Beauty, brains, a killer body, and she was brutally tough. He was in love.

Olivia, while taking her notes, caught him staring at her and she smirked right back at him. She knew what he was thinking, and she felt a surge of pride and a light confidence. In this huge lecture hall, with all of the beautiful college girls surrounding them, he still only had eyes for her. She hadn't even seen him look at another girl. And he wouldn't. She knew it.

"And that will be the first topic discussed tomorrow," the professor said, wrapping up his lecture.

Elliot watched with a smile as Olivia closed her notebook and shoved everything into her messenger bag. She looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"I am not a prime-time drama, El," Olivia said. "Stop watching me."

"Never," Elliot said, rising out of his chair. He took Olivia by the hand and pulled her up, kissing her cheek sweetly. "I'll meet you in Psych. I'm gonna run through the bathroom. See if anyone's talking about this rapist." He kissed her again, making it longer, hotter.

Olivia was left breathless, and caught Elliot shooting someone behind her a harsh glare as he walked out of the room. She turned to follow his gaze, and there he was. Brian Cassidy. Olivia took a deep breath and shook her head. She knew now that, while she and Elliot were here for work, he would also be proving that he had won, that she was his. That kiss, though amazing and purely emotional, was Elliot marking his territory.

She saw Brian getting up and rolled her eyes. She bolted for the door, choosing to start finding facts of her own about the rapes they were investigating, and avoiding whatever it was Cassidy needed to say.

* * *

"Serena Benson," Munch said, circling her like a hawk in the interrogation room, "You know why you're here?"

"You can't arrest me for going there...she is my daughter," Serena said between hiccups.

Munch raised a finger and shook his head. "You signed custody of her over to the NYPD," he said. "You went after her. Why?"

"Signing that paper was a mistake," Serena spat. "She deserves whatever her father is gonna giver her! What he gave me! What I've had to live with for almost nineteen years!"

"So this a revenge thing?" Munch asked.

Serena nodded. "Damn right," she spat.

"Why are you blaming your daughter?" Munch asked. "It was never her, Serena. It was always him. Olivia was an innocent child who just happened to inherit her looks from your monster, not you."

"She ruined my life," Serena said. "They both did. It'll be worth it to have him take her away, so you can take him away. Then, I'll be free, finally."

Munch slapped down a photo of Maureen. "And is it worth taking away this little girl's mother?"

"Who is that?" Serena asked, confused.

"Your granddaughter," Munch said, hoping she would buy it, hoping she would be too drunk to notice the child was blonde, and Olivia and Elliot were both dark-haired.

Serena scoffed. "This girl is two years old, at least. No way is she Olivia's kid."

She had him there. He thought fast, though. Munch leaned over. "See, that's where you're wrong. Serena, you were so drunk, so completely unaware of what was going on in your daughter's life, that you missed her entire relationship with Elliot unfold. You didn't notice her gaining weight did you? You completely missed her pregnancy, she had the baby, and left her with Elliot, so she wouldn't have to be anywhere near you."

Serena's shocked face remained fixed on the photo of the little girl. "Wait," she whispered. "You can't...you can not be serious. Olivia would never have kept something like this..."

"Wouldn't she?" Munch asked. "You never treated her like a mother should treat a daughter. You were violent, abusive. You were always drunk, Serena. Why would she want to have her own child around that?" He leaned further into Serena and said, "Despite everything you have done to her, Olivia is a better mother than you. She's put the safety and needs of her own child before her own, since the beginning. Maybe it's time you do the same thing, hmm? Learn something from your daughter?"

A tear rolled down Serena's cheek as she had a sobering thought, literally and figuratively. "She had to go through it all alone," she whispered. "I wasn't there for her, like no one was there for me, because I resented where she came from, and who she was. She must have been so afraid. So lost."

"She had Elliot," Munch said. "She didn't have the same experience you did, Serena. She's in love with this man, and he and this little girl are her whole life. She's happy now. You made her miserable, and she found happiness on her own. Don't rip that away from her. Don't destroy this child's life the way you destroyed Olivia's. Tell us who he is, Serena. Tell us how to find him, before he hurts Olivia, or your granddaughter."

Serena picked up the photo, smiling a bit. She sniffled. "What's her name?"

"Maureen," Munch said.

"Benson?" Serena asked, still gazing into the pretty blue eyes of the little girl.

Munch shook his head. "Stabler," he said. "Olivia and Elliot are...gonna be together for...a while. She gave her Elliot's last name."

Serena looked up. "I can tell you where he is, but I don't know his name. We've only talked through a mutual friend. He refuses to see me. He says he's been watching Olivia, keeping an eye on her, and he knew how badly I wanted her out of the way."

"Just tell us where he is, and who you've been talking to," Munch said, sending a glance toward the two-way mirror. Cragen and the new sex crimes A.D.A were watching, with baited breath.

Cragen's eyes widened as Serena's words hit his ears. He looked back at Fin and nodded. They were one step closer.

* * *

Olivia walked into her Psychology class, scanning the desks for Elliot. She found him, head down, doodling on the back of his as-yet-unopened notebook. She noticed, also, the gorgeous redhead sitting next to him, trying to get his attention, tossing her hair, smirking sultrily, batting her eyelashes and practically drooling. She walked over, apologized to the people she was stepping over, and sat in the seat on the other side of him. "Hey," she said casually.

Elliot's head popped up instantly, much to the dismay of the redhead who couldn't get more than an "uh-huh" from him. "Baby!" he said with a smile, leaning over and cupping her face. He kissed her, not caring that they were in a public classroom. He nuzzled her nose for a moment as they pulled away. "What'd you find out?" he whispered, nibbling on her ear.

"That my boyfriend is a sex crazed loon," Olivia said, her eyes fluttering as she tried not to moan.

"Besides that," Elliot chuckled, kissing down her neck.

Olivia pushed him away, looking around at the amused and slightly red faces of the people who had been watching them. She smirked at the irritated face of the redhead, then, too, and said, "Three girls in the last month. They were all in the same classes, same activities, two of them were in the same sorority."

"That'll narrow it down," Elliot said with a shrug. He kissed her again and said, "I can't stop kissing you."

Olivia chuckled. "Well, when the professor walks in, you're not gonna have a choice," she said. "Anyone tell you anything useful?"

"One guy on the football team thinks it might be the homeless man who sleeps under the bleachers," Elliot said shrugging. "And some pre-law asshole is acting like he has it all figured out. Kept mumbling about having all this evidence, but couldn't back it up. Spouting shit about attorney-client privilege."

Olivia laughed. "This isn't gonna be easy, is it?" she asked, looking down and flipping his notebook over.

Elliot rolled his eyes and chuckled. "No," he said, "But at least we can act our age for a few hours a day." He pulled her over to him and kissed her again, sighing into it as his hand ran through her hair. He never really got the chance to be her boyfriend, they'd jumped right into a partnership. He wanted to use their time on this case to try, for a little while, to spend some time acting like a real couple. He pulled away from her and pecked her nose, then leaned back into his seat. "Oh, hey, there he is. That weasel who thinks he's a lawyer."

"You can make him talk," they heard a voice fro behind them say.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Brian, honestly, this doesn't concern you."

"Yeah, it does," Cassidy said. "And that is Trevor Langan. He's arrogant, thinks he knows everything about the legal system and how to work it, he's irritating, and as far as I can tell he only has one weakness." He looked directly at Olivia, then glanced over at Trevor, who was doing the same thing.

"Oh, no," Elliot said. "No way."

Cassidy chuckled. "Relax," he said. "Benson wouldn't really even give him the time of day, we both know that. But he might talk to her. What happens when you dangle a fish in front of a hungry seal, and say he can't have it until he flips?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "The seal slaps the shit of you."

Cassidy laughed. "The seal fucking flips, Olivia. You tell Trevor that if he tells you what you wanna know, you can pull strings and get him into a better law school. Flash the badge, maybe a little cleavage, and he'll be putty in your hands." He narrowed his eyes. "Any man would be. I was."

"I didn't have a badge when I went out with you," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. "Or cleavage for that matter."

Elliot chuckled. "Sweet, I got the Benson with boobs."

Cassidy cleared his throat. "Trust me," he said. "Elliot, you got a lot more of her than I ever did. Actually, I think you got more of her than anyone has. Parts of her that didn't even exist before you came along."

"Okay, he gets it," Olivia spat over her shoulder. "I'll talk to this Langan guy after class. Just...shut up."

Cassidy smirked. "I'm getting under your skin again, huh, Benson?"

"She asked you to shut up," Elliot said, his own patience wearing thin. "Thanks for the advice about Langan. We'll talk to him."

It would be a conversation no one involved would soon forget.

**A/N: Who was Serena talking to? Where/Who is Olivia's father? And the conversation with Langan. Plus: when she can't sleep, Olivia actually reads her contract. Does she find a way out? Does she want to take it? Wanna know? Tell me here or on Twitter. Follow TMG212. Thanks for reading, guys! :) **


	21. A Few Questions

**A/N: A discussion with Trevor, who leads them to a surprising suspect, and a phone call from a stranger catches Olivia and Elliot by surprise.**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters are owned by Dick Wolf. This story, though, belongs to TStabler© **

As soon as the class, that Elliot actually found quite fascinating when he wasn't staring at Olivia's neck, was over, the pair stood and made their way down the steps to meet the odyssey known as Trevor Langan. Elliot tapped him on the shoulder and he turned.

"Oh, if it isn't the nosy prick from the…" Trevor stopped mid-sentence when he saw Olivia. "And who might this charming young woman be?"

"This charming young woman might be my girlfriend," Elliot seethed, "So stop looking at her like that."

Trevor ignored Elliot and reached for Olivia's hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of it softly. "It is truly a pleasure to meet you," he swooned.

Olivia rolled her eyes, casually wiping the back of her hand off on her thigh. "Likewise," she mumbled sarcastically. "Look, we have to talk to you."

"We?" Trevor said, raising an eyebrow. "I hope you are using the formal we, to just mea yourself…and myself." He grinned slyly at her and said, "Because I think any conversation we may have would be much more fun without that smarmy asshole."

"Smarmy?" Olivia said with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, well, no. I meant the two of us, and we both need to talk to you."

Trevor rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well," he said, "If you do most of the talking, I'm sure I won't even notice him."

As they walked, Elliot leaned into Olivia closely, "Liv, I swear to God, I'm gonna punch him. I'm gonna fucking punch…"

"Our only lead, El," Olivia interrupted. "I wanna give him a nice kick in the ass, too, but…"

Elliot pulled her toward him, kissing her, cutting into her words.

Olivia, though kissing him back willingly, smirked against his lips and hit him in the arm. Again, he was marking his territory. She pulled away and chuckled, "God, El, why don't you just pee on me or something?"

Elliot laughed as they continued to walk, taking Trevor to an empty conference room to have their little chat.

* * *

"Any luck?" Cragen asked Fin and Munch as they walked back into the squadroom.

Fin nodded and ran a hand down his face. "We found him, two uni's are bringing him up now. Can't arrest him, but we can talk to him." He paused, watching Munch pour two cups of coffee, suddenly panicking that he was going to have to drink one. "I can't believe we had a connection like that right under our goddamned noses."

"Explains why he was so hard on them," Munch said. "Why he pushed him more than her, to see how far he really would go, since he would have actually had to save her life."

Fin took the mug, with a forced smile, from Munch and sipped down the sludge. "Yeah, but now he's claiming it was an undercover op to get to her father. To have him make a move…"

"Bullshit," Cragen said, folding his arms. "I would have known about it. And according to Serena, she had been talking to him for years, long before Olivia was even in the program. Ed couldn't have known…" he paused, and his eyes closed as he realized something.

"What?" Fin asked, putting the mug down and leaning forward.

Munch grew concerned, too, and crossed his own arms. "Cap?" he questioned.

"The whole thing with Olivia," Cragen said, "Was a setup. Serena went too far, knowing Olivia would crack, and she called Ed and me…Ed must have told her that she would be watched by him…"

"You got it, Don," Ed Tucker said, being escorted into the bullpen. "But I was honestly never going to let her father hurt her. I was just…"

"Using her as bait!" Cragen spat, turning on his former employee, former friend. "What have you got on him, Ed? We need a fucking name, and a reason you would bring her into this, under false pretenses, after making a deal with her mother, to get to him!"

Ed sighed, running a hand down his face. "Off the record?"

"My ass," Cragen spat, walking toward the metal door and pushing it open. "Welcome to your first official interrogation, Sergeant Tucker."

* * *

"Is that it, then?" Olivia asked, a smirk on her face and her arms folded. "You're just gonna keep saying 'attorney-client privilege' over and over again?" She chuckled and moved one hand slowly down her body, starting at her neck.

This action made both Elliot and Trevor melt. They were practically drooling.

"Silly, Trevor," Olivia said, narrowing her eyes. "You're not a real attorney," she said, her fingertips tugging lightly at the hem of her pants.

Elliot had to close his eyes and breathe. He shouldn't be thinking about throwing her up against the wall, or bending her over the empty desk behind her, they were working here.

Trevor couldn't close his eyes. He was mesmerized. Completely transfixed by her. He silently begged the hand to keep moving.

Move it did, as Olivia brought her hand lower, slowly running over her toned stomach. "But," she said, moving her hand toward her hip, "I am a real cop." She slammed the badge onto the table in front of him and leaned over. She heard him whimper and she smirked.

Elliot grinned at her, smugly. She was good. "I think what my partner is trying to say, Trevor, is that you really don't have any legal obligation to keep what you know a secret," he said, walking over to Olivia. "And if you don't tell us here, we can always bring you down to the…"

Trevor, still staring up at Olivia, who he was both petrified of and turned on by, said, "I'll talk." Then he cleared his throat and tried to breathe. "But what's in it for me?"

"The satisfaction of knowing you took a rapist off the streets and saved a few hundred or so potential victims," Olivia said, appalled by his greed.

"Do better than that," Trevor said. Then he looked her up and down and smirked seductively at her, curling his lips as he said, "Detective."

Elliot, remembering something Cassidy had said to them, took a step closer and said, "We'll make a few calls. You talk, we'll get you an interview at Columbia."

"Are you serious?" Trevor asked, his jaw dropping.

"Yes," Elliot said, putting a hand on Olivia's shoulder, pulling, bringing her back up to an upright position. "We can't get you in, but we get you…"

"An interview is all I need," Trevor said, sitting up straight. He sighed and said, "Here's what I know. The guy lives on my floor. He comes home every Thursday night, bragging that he'd gotten lucky at some sorority party. Always the same story. Friday mornings, we all wake up to the news that another girl was found raped and killed somewhere between the sorority house and campus. It's always the girls he claims he's been with, but he keeps swearing to me that they were alive when he left them."

"Okay," Olivia said, sliding her hands down to her hips, using the right one to return the badge to its rightful place. "What's his name?"

Trevor flushed. "I don't know if I should…"

"Come on, buddy," Elliot said, leaning over to where Olivia had just been. "Columbia," he teased in a sing-song voice.

"His name's Randall," Trevor said sighing. "Randall Jeffries."

Hearing that last name, Olivia and Elliot looked at each other. Olivia nodded and left the room to call Cragen, and Elliot made Trevor write and sign his statement. He called a friend at the District Attorney's office, and right in front of Trevor, made the arrangements for his interview. "See? Held up my end of the deal," he said. He then handed Trevor a business card and said, "If you remember anything else, or if you hear anything else, call me."

"Is, uh, your partner gonna give me her number, too?" Trevor asked, grinning.

Elliot cracked his knuckles. "Not on your life pal," he said. Then he opened the door and walked out, wondering what the hell they had just gotten themselves into.

* * *

As soon as the door opened, a tiny blonde blur flew into Elliot's arms. He chuckled heartily and kissed the side of Maureen's head. "Hey, sweetie," he cooed. "Were you a good girl for Grandma?"

"Uh-huh," Maureen said, nodding, as she squirmed in Elliot's arms, trying to get to Olivia.

"Go ahead," Elliot said, chuckling, and handing the tot to Olivia. He turned to his waiting mother and asked, "How was she, really?"

"A little angel," Bernie declared. "We do have a problem, though."

Elliot's eyes widened, as did Olivia's.

"There's a problem with Maury?" Olivia asked, worried. "What?"

Bernie was honestly touched by Olivia's concern. "Well, not a problem, so much as an issue. She, uh, she asked me to take her to see her mother."

Elliot gasped. "What? How? She doesn't even remember what Kathy looks…"

"She was talking about Olivia," Bernie interrupted. "She asked me if I could take her to see 'Mommy and Daddy' and I asked, ya know, because I was confused, who 'Mommy' was and she said…"

"Wifuh!" Maureen chirped with a giggle. "Mommy!" she said, touching Olivia's nose.

Olivia smiled back at the little girl, and though she had heard the toddler call her that before, this was the first time it was this loud, this clear, in front of his mother, and she didn't seem angry. "Why is this an issue?" Olivia asked, still nuzzling the little girl's nose.

"Well," Bernie said, "If you ever leave…"

"We've been through this, Ma!" Elliot spat. "We've had this same exact discussion the last time you heard Maury call her something that sounded like 'Mommy.' She's not going anywhere."

Bernie sighed. "Check your messages, Elliot. I didn't mean she would be leaving willingly." She kissed her son on the cheek, then kissed Olivia's cheek, surprising her. "Goodnight," she said, opening the door and walking out.

Elliot walked over to the side table and pushed the button on the answering machine. As the message played, Olivia and Elliot grew closer, and more worried. "Okay," he said, "We're calling Cragen. Right the fuck now." He stopped the machine, flipped it open, and pulled out the mini-disc. "Ya know, no. We're just gonna go down there. He needs to hear this."

Olivia nodded, keeping Maureen in her arms, and Elliot kissed both of their foreheads. "El," she said, looking up, "I'm not scared."

"I know you're not," Elliot said, smiling. "Come on." He led the both of them back out the door, holding what may the recorded voice of Olivia's father in his hand.

**A/N: Ohhh. What did Ed Tucker say in the interrogation? Is Randall Jeffries related to Monique? How? Was that the last we've seen of Trevor Langan? And what, exactly, is on the message left by Olivia's father? Wanna know? Leave a message of your own! Here, or on Twitter. TMG212 **


	22. Getting Caught Up

**A/N: What did Ed Tucker say in the interrogation? And what, exactly, is on the message left by Olivia's father?**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters are owned by Dick Wolf. This story, though, belongs to TStabler©**

Cragen and Munch had been in the interrogation room with Ed Tucker for over an hour. Olivia, Elliot, and Maureen had waited in the bullpen, with Fin, and after Fin had explained what happened with Serena and why Tucker was there, there was silence. Absolute silence.

Fin watched, not entirely sure of how he felt about it, as Olivia and Elliot kissed and cuddled, with Maureen sleeping in Elliot's arms.

"Sorry for the wait," Fin said, interrupting a particularly sweet kiss.

Elliot shook his head, nuzzling Olivia's nose with his, and without looking at him, keeping his eyes on Olivia, he said, "This is important. We can wait." He tilted his head and caught her lips again, hoping they wouldn't have to wait too much longer. He wanted to get her home, as soon as he could.

Finally, Cragen walked out into the squad room, followed by Munch and Tucker. "What are you two doing here?" he asked Olivia and Elliot. "You cracking this Hudson University case already?"

"We have a suspect," Elliot said, "but that's not why we're here." He held up the disc from his answering machine and he sighed as he handed it to Cragen. "He found her," he said.

"What?" Cragen said, his eyes narrow. "Who found who?"

Olivia spoke up. "My father," she said. "At least, that's who he claims to be."

"He said he knew where she was, and he was gonna make sure I was out of the way before he took her and Maureen," Elliot said. "He threatened my daughter! How the fuck does he even know about my daughter?"

"Damn it," Cragen spat. "You two, stay here tonight. Upstairs. Ed and I will listen to this, and we know how to find him, if this is him."

Elliot's head snapped to his left. "Tucker," he spat. "I knew you were fucking involved, you son of a..."

"Elliot," Olivia said, pulling on his arm. He looked at her and followed her eyes to Maureen. Elliot sighed and nodded, calming down for the sake of his daughter, and he said, "I'll call Mom." He didn't want the child spending the night in a police station. He handed the sleeping girl to Olivia and walked over to his desk, calling his mother to come get Maureen.

Tucker walked over to Olivia, then, and said, "Look, Benson, I never wanted him to find you. I needed to find him, and you were..."

"Stop," Olivia said, whispering so as not to wake Maureen. "You knew about him, the whole damn time, and you think that just because I don't have to deal with you every day, and I'm safe because of Elliot, you can tell me the truth now and I won't hate you?"

"I just...I'm apologizing, this is probably the only time you're gonna hear it, so take it, Benson," Tucker said, irritated. "I swear, he won't get to you, or Elliot, or his daughter."

Fin cleared his throat. "Tucker, leave it alone," he said. "She knows what you did. She knows why. She knows everything."

Olivia shook her head. "You were actually gonna use me, let him come after me, just so you could..."

Tucker interrupted her, shouting, "He's a rapist, Benson! One that hasn't been caught, and who's been making women like your mother crazy for almost twenty years!" He narrowed his eyes and said, "If putting you in the frontlines, getting you into a little danger, was the only way to catch him, then goddammit it was worth it!"

Maureen woke up, beginning to cry, and Olivia shot Tucker a harsh look. "Bastard," she spat as she bolted into the hallway to calm down her boyfriend's daughter.

* * *

Elliot watched, with nervous eyes, as Olivia took off her sweater and sat on a bunk. "I'm sorry, Liv," he whispered.

"For what?" Olivia yawned, lying down.

Elliot took off his sweatshirt and sat on the edge of her bed. "That you have to go through this shit," he said. "That Tucker's been planning this since..."

"Not your fault," Olivia said, stifling another yawn. "Told you I wasn't scared, and I don't really care, El. I've realized that my life is gonna be one fucking surprise after another, and I'm used to it." She tugged on his tee-shirt, asking him to lay down.

Elliot flattened out, sighing, and wrapped an arm around her. "We haven't done this in a while," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Slept?" Olivia asked, chuckling.

"Spent some time alone," Elliot said, smirking. "It's kinda nice letting someone else handle the shit, while we just relax, and spend some time together. Alone."

Olivia looked up at him and said, "Really? Here?"

Elliot furrowed his brow and laughed a bit. "Liv, I didn't mean we had to..."

"El," Olivia said, "Shut up and kiss me."

Elliot smirked as he cupped her face and brought her closer to his. He brushed his lips over hers, making her crazy, and finally, when he heard what he thought was a growl, he slanted his lips over hers. He ran one hand through her hair and the other hand down her body, coming to rest on her waist as it pulled her closer to him.

Olivia moaned, wrapping her arms around him. She ran her hands down his back and slipped them under his shirt. She heard him moan, felt him stiffen, and she lifted the cotton, pulling the shirt over his head.

Elliot was losing control, and losing it fast. He pulled back a little and tugged her shirt over her body, tossing it to the floor. He let his fingers dance over her stomach, taking in the sight of her in just her bra and a pair of jeans, jeans that were quickly peeled off of her. He watched as she loosened his belt, unzipped his pants, and tugged them down, taking his boxers with them. "Liv," he whispered, "Slow down, baby." He peeled down her panties, groaning as even more of her perfect body was revealed to him, and finally slid back up to divest her of her bra.

Olivia looked up at him, wrapped one arm around his neck and the other hand linked with his. They stared into each others eyes for a moment, then Elliot smirked. He kept his fingers laced with hers, but kissed her neck, then her chest, licking and sucking each nipple for a few moments before moving down her body. He kissed her stomach, dipping his tongue into her belly button and making her jump, then he kissed her hips, slowly making his way toward her aching, desperate, center.

"Elliot," Olivia mumbled, feeling his hot breath over her most sensitive area. She moaned, biting her lip, as he sent one long, luscious lick up her wet slit.

Elliot groaned and closed his eyes. He loved her taste, her scent, the noises she was making, and the way she moved. He moaned as he licked her slowly, deeply, making love to her with his mouth. He licked faster when she bucked her hips, and he sucked lightly on the tiny bundle of nerves he had been avoiding. She arched her back and squeezed his hand, and Elliot knew she was close. He sucked harder on her clit and chuckled when she squeezed his hand and cursed under her breath as she came. He licked up every bit, and slowly slid back up her body. "Hi," he said with a smug grin.

"Proud of yourself, aren't you?" Olivia asked, breathless, still shaking.

"Very," Elliot said, nudging her face with his nose. "I love doing that, ya know."

"Oh, I know," Olivia said, panting. Then, in a burst of energy, she pushed him off of her and crawled on top of him. She smirked down at him and kissed him, tasting herself on his lips and tongue, then gave his body the same treatment he had given hers, and she took him into her mouth, slowly, as much as she could.

"Jesus, Liv," Elliot whispered with a soft grunt, still holding her hand with his as the other moved to the back of her head. He moved with her, not forcing her at all, and gently toyed with her hair. He loved watching her do this, because she loved doing it. He closed his eyes and moaned her name, and he knew that this is what pure bliss really was.

Olivia waited until she felt him tense and stiffen in her mouth, then she moved the hand that was not enveloped in his to the back of her head. She stopped his hand from trying to move her head, and she sucked harder, slower, triggering his release. As he grunted and shifted on the bed, Olivia swallowed, moaning around him.

"Shit, baby," Elliot said, trying to breathe. His eyes opened and she was poised in front of him, her face mere centimeters from his. "Damn, Liv," he panted. He, without warning, grabbed her hips, steadying her, and crashed his lips into hers as he pushed inside of her, surprising her that he'd instantly hardened again. He caught her moaning yelp of painful pleasure in his mouth, and he began to move, moving her up and down as he moved himself in and out, kissing her rabidly as they tried to stay quiet. This was, after all, their place of employment, and their colleagues were downstairs.

"El," Olivia moaned. "Elliot, baby," she cried between kisses. "Oh, God, you feel so good," she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut as she began to clench around him quickly. It felt so incredible, so different, and she knew why, but she couldn't will herself to stop.

Elliot moved her faster, moved himself deeper and harder, and he, too, was on the brink, just waiting for the right moment to bring them both over the edge. "Liv," he grunted, latching his lips onto hers, "Fuck, Liv. So amazing, baby. So fucking good."

Olivia tightened around him and her moans got higher and faster, and then stopped, as she was too far gone to let any noise escape. Her mouth slanted over his and she came violently, pulsating around him, squeezing him, milking him.

Elliot grunted against her lips as he spurted hotly into her, and it wasn't until his last thrust, his final glorious push, that he realized what they had done. "Holy shit," he gasped, pushing Olivia up a bit to look at her. "Liv, baby," he said to her, "We just...shit!"

Olivia closed her eyes, her breathing still heavy, and she said, "Okay." She nodded and ran her hands over his sweaty, heaving chest. "It's okay," she said softly. "You always say it's in God's hands, and things happen for a reason, so we will just have to wait. Pray, and wait."

"God? Pray?" Elliot questioned. "Liv, you don't..."

"But you do," Olivia said, kissing him. "And if you believe, then there's gotta be something to it, right? I love you, I trust you, I have faith in you. And whatever you have faith in." She kissed him again and moved, sliding him out of her, and said, "We should really remember not to get caught up in the moment like that."

Elliot chuckled. "Yeah," he said, pulling her close and making sure the alarm on his phone was set to before anyone was due to show up in the morning. He pulled the blanket around them and wrapped himself around her. "Whatever happens, I'm not going anywhere."

"I know you're not," Olivia said, sighing.

"I love you," Elliot whispered to her.

Olivia squeezed closer to him and said softly, "I love you, too." She closed her eyes and tried not to worry, but she knew, somehow, tonight had changed their lives.

**A/N: Do Tucker and Cragen get Olivia's father? Is Olivia going to get a surprise or not? ****Is Randall Jeffries related to Monique? How? Was that the last we've seen of Trevor Langan? Next chapter. If you want it. Lemme know, here or on Twitter, TMG212**


	23. Missing In Action

**A/N: Do Tucker and Cragen get Olivia's father? Is Olivia going to get a surprise or not? Is Randall Jeffries related to Monique? How?**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters are owned by Dick Wolf. This story, though, belongs to TStabler©**

Elliot woke up, confused and alone. He looked around the room, finding nothing, not a single trace of Olivia. He got out of the bed in a panic. He pulled on his clothes and ran downstairs, looking around, still not seeing her. "Where is she?" he asked, angry.

Cragen had his arms folded as he leaned against the wall. "She's safe," he said. "You need to get to the school and find out if this Randall..."

"Where is she?" Elliot asked again, louder.

"Elliot, calm down," Cragen said. "She's fine, trust that. Her father is gonna be down here sometime today, and she couldn't be here."

Elliot took a step forward and punched the wall near his captain's head. "Damn it, where the hell is she?"

"I'm not telling you!" Cragen finally yelled. "You have a job to do, Stabler. You signed a goddamned contract. Get to work."

"I thought I couldn't work without her," Elliot said, snapping. "Contract said so."

"Extenuating circumstances," Cragen said, sighing. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Elliot. Get to Hudson. Go."

Elliot, worried, scared, pissed off, heartbroken, and feeling lost, left the squadroom, shaking his head. He didn't know if he could do this without Olivia by his side. He made it through his classes, bleary eyes and tired, and finally spoke to Randall Jeffries. He found out that the man was Monique's first cousin, not her brother, and he had a sleeping disorder. He called in the information to Cragen, who immediately asked a court for a warrant.

An hour later, Elliot walked into the bullpen with Randall in cuffs. He tossed the man to Fin, and the interrogation started without him as he walked over to Cragen's office. He knocked, but didn't hear anything. He knocked again, this time opening the door. He was a bit shocked to see Cragen and Tucker in the office, along with a man in a suit. "Captain?" he asked. "Sorry to interrupt, but, I need to know where..."

Cragen shook his head. "Elliot, I'm so sorry."

"You need to sit down," Tucker said.

Elliot, scared now, took a step forward and sat in a leather chair. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked, confused.

"Well," Tucker began, clearing his throat, "Go ahead and tell him, Don."

"Me?" Cragen snapped. "This is your fault, you fucking tell him! If he's killing anyone, it's you!"

"Someone tell me!" Elliot yelled.

The man in the suit stepped forward. "Detective Stabler, I presume?" he questioned, extending a hand. "Captain Frank Swanson. From the Two-Seven."

"Pleasure, really," Elliot said, shaking his hand. "Now, why am I meeting you?"

"Your partner was escorted to my squadroom this morning," Swanson said. "We had agreed to watch her, protect her, for the time being, as the man after her was armed and dangerous, and I owed Don a favor."

"So you have her? Is she here? Can I see her?" Elliot asked quickly, standing up.

Cragen ran a hand down his face. "She's gone, Elliot," he said.

"What do you mean, 'gone?" Elliot asked, his head jerking angrily toward Cragen.

Swanson spoke up. "A few hours after she arrived, two uniformed policemen showed up. They gave me the all clear, told me it was safe to take her home. They had all of the necessary paperwork, so..."

"You gave her to them?" Elliot asked, pissed off. "Where did they take her?"

Swanson cleared his throat. "They told me they were taking her home, which I thought meant back here. I called Don to see that she arrived safely, and that's when he told me that she was still what we call 'Code Red," he explained. "In serious trouble. We have people looking for her now, but..."

"You lost her!" Elliot yelled. "You don't know who took her, and you know that someone wants her dead, are you fucking kidding me?" He ran his hands through his hair and got out of his seat. "Jesus Christ, you're all fucking cops! How could you let this happen?"

"It seemed official, Stabler," Tucker chimed in. "Whoever planned this, he had help from someone who had access to her files, and ours, and police..."

"Find out who," Elliot said through a clenched jaw. He walked to the door and shouted, "Don't expect me back until I find her." He slammed the door behind him, and bolted out of the precinct, his heart in his throat.

Cragen watched him go, knowing it would be a long, long time before he saw him again, and he'd come back without Olivia.

* * *

He'd been gone all night, he must have looked in every alley, every abandoned building, every corner of New York City. She was gone. His Olivia was gone. He walked back into the squadroom at three in the morning, red-eyed and sniffling. He slumped in his seat and stared at the empty desk across from his. He dropped his head into his hands and, for the first time in his life, he really cried. Harsh, sobbing cries.

"Elliot," a voice from behind him said, quietly. "Man, uh, Jeffries confessed. You did good."

"It was Olivia, Fin," Elliot whispered. "She figured it out, got the juice out of that fucker Trevor."

"Well then you both did good," Fin said, sitting in his seat. "You know we're gonna find her. Cragen never stops looking for one of his own, and you know she can't stay away from you or that kid of yours."

Elliot scoffed. "If she thinks she's saving our lives by staying away, she will. Fuck, Fin, how did this happen?"

"Wish I could tell ya, man," Fin replied. "All I can offer is this: she's tough. She's strong. She's a fighter. Wherever she is, she's okay. I promise you that."

Elliot shook his head and sniffled again. "She's not okay, Fin. I know it. She won't really be okay until she's back here, in my arms, where she belongs."

The next two days were a frantic blur. They searched everywhere, called every organization they could, even talked with Serena again. They got nowhere.

Olivia had been gone for a week when Elliot really began to lose hope and fall apart. He was snapping at everyone, fighting with everyone, losing his temper more easily. When a package for him arrived, a box with no return address containing Olivia's gun, badge, and ID, he lost it. He almost broke a perp's nose during an interrogation and he drank himself into a stupor every night at a bar down the street. His mother was watching Maureen full-time, it seemed, since Elliot had gone completely off the deep end.

This lasted for a month. He was miserable, coming close to losing everything. Cragen told him, after picking him up from the bar for the seventh time in as many days, that he needed to either get help or forget about Olivia. A week after that, with no one getting anywhere with the investigation letting the case run cold, he decided to merely pretend to forget about her.

Elliot walked into the bullpen, in a pressed suit, clean shaven, standing tall. He pulled out his seat, sat in it, and turned on his computer. "What are we working on, Fin?" he asked, looking at the man next to him.

"How did you know?" Fin asked, furrowing his brow.

"Know what?" Elliot asked, raising an eyebrow.

Fin leaned a little closer. "New suit, you shaved, you don't smell like a bottle of Jack which is good because if she finds out you've been drinking, she'll kill ya," he said. "Who told you she was here?"

"What are you talking about? Who's here?" Elliot asked, really confused now.

Fin stood up. "You really don't know?" he asked.

"No, man," Elliot said shaking his head. "I just decided that I needed to move on with my life, get over it, because she's not coming...wait...her? Liv?"

Fin looked cautiously toward the pit. "Interrogation room one," he said. "She looked like shit when she got here, man. Dirty, torn clothes, and shit. She took a shower, Cragen gave her the clothes that were in your locker, we got her some coffee, and she's talkin' about it."

"About what?" Elliot asked, nervous. "Fin, what happened to her? Where the hell has she been?"

"Ask her," Fin said, jerking his head toward the room. "Cragen left a few minutes ago to get her more coffee, man. She's alone in there."

Elliot ran into the pit. He saw her, head down on the metal table, as he looked through the mirrored window. He took a breath, trying not to cry, and walked into the room, and Olivia's head popped up from where it had been resting. Their eyes met and their minds swirled with a thousand thoughts and words, yet there was silence. He looked at her, stepping closer to her, and saw her in his sweatshirt. She looked so beautiful as he moved closer still, silent, and knelt down beside her. One hand moved to her knee, then the other moved up, brushing her longer hair out of her eyes. "Liv," he whispered.

Olivia let tears fall from her eyes as she looked at him, felt him touching her. "El," she said softly.

"Baby, what...what happened?" Elliot asked, blinking quickly so he wouldn't cry. He thumbed her tears away and pulled her head closer to his. "Tell me."

"The FBI," Olivia said. "They were after..."

"Your father?" Elliot asked, nuzzling her nose. "Is that who took you? The FBI?"

Olivia nodded. "They weren't after my father though, Elliot. They wanted me to help them with a case, undercover in California. I thought you knew."

"Wait, what?" Elliot asked, rising to his feet. "Baby, how could I have known? You don't know what I went through here, thinking it was your father who'd gotten to you, or that..."

"My father?" Olivia questioned. She stood up, too, taking his hands. "El, they caught my dad the night we gave them the message," she told him. "The FBI came in the next morning, Fin woke me up. They told me I had to go, something about the fine print in our contracts saying we answer to them, too. Cragen didn't tell you any of this?"

"No," Elliot said, shaking his head. "No, he didn't. Liv, he told me you were gone, that someone had taken you...I was a fucking mess!"

Olivia wrapped her arms around him, pulling him to her. "Calm down. I'm here now, and I'm fine. Didn't you get the letter I sent you?"

"Letter?" Elliot asked. "No, I just...I got your gun and badge..."

"There was a letter in the box, El," Olivia said. "I was asking you to hold on to them for me, since if anyone caught me with them I'd be in deep shit. I told you I was coming back soon, and what...well, obviously, I'm not pregnant, We're okay."

Elliot kissed her, hard, and pulled her close and tight. "I didn't get a letter, baby," he whispered. "I was so scared. I...I was a wreck. Never do that to me again." He laughed and looked down at her. "You would not believe how much of a mess I made of my life."

"Well, you didn't know where I was," Olivia said. "I'd be a fucking mess, too." She kissed him and slid her hands up his jacket, raking her nails over his shirt. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you," Elliot told her. "God, did I miss you."

The door behind them opened and Cragen and the man in the suit he'd met nearly two months ago stepped in. "Sorry to interrupt this, uh, reunion," the man said.

"Captain Swanson," Elliot said, tilting his head, "What are you doing here?"

Olivia looked at Elliot. "Swanson? El, baby, that's the FBI agent who took me to California." She squeezed his hand and said, "That's Agent Porter."

Elliot's eyes widened. "Oh, you son of a bitch," he spat. "You are so damn lucky Olivia told me everything, because I swear, if I still thought you let some psycho take her..."

"You told him about it?" Cragen asked, interrupting.

"You expected me not to?" Olivia asked in return. "Of course I told him! You sure as hell didn't! What, was this another one of your fucking tests?"

There was silence.

"It was," Elliot said with a smirk. "I, clearly, failed, because I couldn't do shit without her, is that what you were trying to find out?"

Cragen cleared his throat. "It wasn't a test, Elliot. I couldn't tell you anything because she was operating with a federal agency for an investigation you weren't a part of. I was going to tell you, when I saw how hard you were taking it, but then, yes, I wanted to see how you handled it. You didn't fail. Quite the opposite. You did your job, though you were near impossible to work with, and you waited until you got home before you broke down. You separated work and personal..."

"Fuck you," Elliot said. He took Olivia's hand, tugging her out of the room.

"Where do you think you're going?" Agent Porter asked, irritated. "She hasn't been debriefed yet!"

Elliot laughed. "Oh, I'm gonna debrief her when we get home. Then we're spending a few days, alone with our daughter. I think we earned a vacation."

"Elliot," Cragen yelled after them, "You can't just walk out!"

"Watch me," Elliot yelled back.

Olivia turned with a smile on her face and waved as they left the bullpen. "You know how much trouble we're in right now?" she asked as they ran down the stairs, hand-in-hand.

"They can't fire us, or split us up," Elliot said. "Those contracts are iron clad, baby." He smirked and kissed her as they exited the building. "We have a lot of lost time to make up for, you and I. And in between the long, and I mean fucking long, romps in our bed, I want you to tell me everything. I want you to know everything, and I want..."

Olivia had shut him up with a kiss. "I promise," she said. "We'll talk. Just take me home, Stabler."

Elliot smirked at her, and they got into his car. He drove, smiling for the first time in almost two months, and he said, "Olivia Benson, I love you."

Olivia brought their linked hands up to her mouth and kissed his knuckles. "I love you, too, El."

They headed home, oblivious to the car following them, or the car's very angry driver.

**A/N: So what happens that night? We get to see Maureen! And who's following them? Review for more! Her or on Twitter: TMG212**


	24. Homecoming

**A/N: So what happens that night? We get to see Maureen! And who's following them?**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters are owned by Dick Wolf. This story, though, belongs to TStabler©**

Elliot got out of the car, walked around to open Olivia's door, and that's when the man who'd been following them stormed up to them and pulled Olivia out of Elliot's arms.

"You have no idea the kind of trouble you could cause by leaving like that," he spat in her face. "You are coming back down to that station, and we are doing this the right way."

Olivia yanked herself free from him. "Jesus Christ, Porter! Do you not know how to ask?" she yelled. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"Benson," Agent Porter said to her, grabiing her again, "You have no choice. And you can't tell him any..."

"I told him," Olivia interrupted as Elliot pushed Porter off of her. "The whole car ride home, I told him everything," she said with a smirk.

Porter rolled his eyes. "Fuck, Benson," he hissed. "Now he's involved."

"He should have been involved from the beginning!" Olivia snapped. "You could have taken both of us! He would have done a hell of a lot better job than you!" She rolled her eyes. "Like anyone even believed we were engaged," she mumbled.

Elliot snickered. "Your face healed nicely," he said. "How many times did she punch you for getting grabby off-duty?" he asked with an attitude. He leaned forward and said, "You're damn lucky I wasn't there, and if you ever touch her again, ever even try, I will bring down a world of pain on your ass."

Agent Porter glared at him and pushed him back, clearly unafraid. "Look, kid," he hissed, "Your little girlfriend has a head full of classified information that she shouldn't have shared with you. Now I need you both to come back with me and..."

"Monday," Elliot barked. "We'll talk to you on Monday. Don't worry, we're not going anywhere. We're staying home, and in bed, all fucking weekend," he said. He pulled Olivia up the stairs and away from Porter, and walked into their home.

Porter watched them go, pissed off, and dialed a number on his cell as he headed back to his car. "Yeah, it's me," he said. "I'm gonna be out doing surveillance. If you need me, call me." He snapped his phone shut, got into his car, and drove around to the other side of the building, where he knew he'd have a better view of them.

* * *

"Momma," Maureen said, rolling over in Olivia's lap. "Home now?" she asked.

"Aw, baby," Olivia said with a sweet smile. "Yeah, I'm home now. I didn't mean to make you guys upset. I thought someone would have told you where I was going."

"Daddy cry," Maureen said, looking up at Olivia.

Olivia turned to look at Elliot. "Yeah," she whispered. "I know Daddy cried. I cried a lot, too, while I was away, pumpkin."

"No more cry," Maureen said, as firmly as a three year old could. She nodded and folded her little arms.

Elliot and Olivia laughed. "You get more like your father every day," Olivia said, kissing the child's forehead.

"No," Maureen said, shaking her head. "Me like Momma."

"She did kind of look like you for a minute there, baby," Elliot siad with a chuckle as he kissed Olivia's neck.

Olivia let out a small, breathy, laugh. "That's impossible," she said.

"No, it isn't," Elliot whispered. "You may not have given birth to her, but you are the one she's learning from, and watching, and taking after. You're giving her her personality and her attitude, and her poise and her grace. She's gonna grow up to be just like...her mother."

Olivia turned to face him, still holding the girl in her lap. Maureen was concentrating on something on the television as Olivia said, "I'm not her..."

"You are," Elliot said as he nodded. He leaned it to kiss her, held her close, and whispered, "Part of me really wanted you to be...well, a small part of me wanted that night to give us a child of our own, Liv."

"It's not the right time," Olivia said, shaking her head. "I'm not ready, we're not stable, and I can't..."

"I said part of me," Elliot chuckled. "The rest of me was scared to death and I'm relieved you aren't pregnant," he told her. "Someday we'll talk about it, right?"

Olivia bit her bottom lip and smiled with a nod. She laughed as Elliot kissed her again. "It's good to be home," she said against his lips.

"Honey, it's good to have you home," Elliot whispered. "I'm lost without you," he told her, his forehead against hers.

Olivia kissed him again, falling further into his arms. She turned her head, resting it on his shoulder, and they watched the rest of the show with Maureen, until it was time for her bath and bed.

They gave her a bath, together, splashing and playing with the bubbles, and the three of them had not laughed as much or as hard in a long time. It was a moment, a beautiful moment, spent as a family. They dried the tot off, slipped her into a pink nightgown, and watched her run into her room, hop into her bed, and crawl under the covers. They kissed her goodnight, then walked out into their own bedroom.

"Oh, God, I missed this bed," Olivia said, falling onto it ungracefully.

"It missed you, too, Liv," Elliot said, climbing over her. "I missed having you in it," he whispered, looking deeply into her eyes. He let himself fall onto her, pinning her to the bed, and his knee pried open her legs. He entangled them together, grabbing her left leg, as he kissed her. He ran his hand up and down her leg as he deepened and prolonged the kiss, making them both moan softly into each other's busy mouth.

Olivia ran her hands down his back, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and pulled it up, out of his pants. She tried to unbutton it without breaking the kiss, and with help from Elliot, she succeeded.

Elliot pulled his shirt off and threw it, his lips still attached to Olivia's, and he pulled away for a moment to lift the sweatshirt over her head. He tossed that away, and looked down at her body as if seeing it for the first time. He let his lips drop to her neck, then her breasts as he slid off her bra, taking his time with her, since it'd been too long for him to rush it.

Olivia helped him slip out of his pants, and he gladly helped take hers off. He flattened down on her and kissed her, their warm bodies molding to each other, and he murmured sweet "I love you"s in her ear. He sat up for a moment, reaching into the side table. He pulled out a condom, not wanting to relive the panic-striking moment of the last time they were together. Once ready, he positioned himself over her again and pushed gently, inching slowly into her.

Elliot kissed her the whole time, and Olivia clutched him tightly, as if this were their first and last time together. Quiet, intense, powerful, and emotional.

From his car, Dean Porter scoffed, moaned, and snorted. "Punk ass kids," he complained. "Damn bitch can't keep her mouth shut," he mumbled to himself. That's when his phone rang. "Yeah," he spat, answering it. "No, they haven't left, and trust me, they don't look like they're leaving anytime soon." He rolled his eyes, scoffing at the person on the other end. "I do know I was supposed to, but I wanted to do it myself," he said. "What? Really? No, no, I will tell her. I think we need to look at their contracts again," he said with an irritated tone. "I think they need to be able to work alone, or with other people. Well, me, of course," he said with a smirk. He hung up the phone and sat back in his car seat, looking through his binoculars as Olivia's back arched and Elliot thrust into her. "Just wait," he said. "You couldn't handle a month apart? You two are in for another big surprise."

**A/N: What is Dean up to? Will Cragen let Dean's people change their contracts so he can work with Olivia, or will Dean have to put up with Elliot, too? More of Maureen, too! Next! If you say so. Review here, or on Twitter: TMG212 **


	25. A New Assignment

**A/N: What is Dean up to? Will Cragen let Dean's people change their contracts so he can work with Olivia, or will Dean have to put up with Elliot, too? More of Maureen, too! It's a short chap, setting up for a longer one.**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters are owned by Dick Wolf. This story, though, belongs to TStabler©**

"Absolutely not," Cragen said, staring at Dean Porter.

"I don't think you understand..."

"No, you don't understand," Cragen interrupted. "These contracts were drawn up by your supervisors. We gave you a month with her, which is all the time allowed apart the contract states they can have, now either you work with both of them, or you don't get the help you need."

Porter rolled his eyes. "Contracts were made to be breached, Cragen," he said.

"Not by my detectives," Cragen said. "And not by me. Now you either take them as a team or you don't take them at all."

Porter squeezed his eyes shut, angry, then said, "Fine. I'll have them ready to go by Monday."

* * *

"Momma," a tiny voice called as a hand, just as tiny, tugged on Olivia's sleeping hand. "Momma," the voice repeated.

Olivia moaned and her eye drifted open slowly. "Hey, sweetie," she said with a smile, looking down at the little blonde three-year-old. "What are you doing out of bed?" she asked.

"Daddy," Maureen said, pulling on Olivia's hand.

"What about Daddy?" Olivia asked, sitting up, thankful she'd put clothe on in the middle of the night.

Maureen pulled. "Up," she said. "Momma, up!" she yelled with a giggle.

"Okay, okay," Olivia said, sighing and rising. She let Maureen pull her out of the bedroom and into the living room, and she was met with Elliot, standing in front of the table. It was set with the most delicious-looking breakfast and a dozen roses in a crystal vase as the centerpiece. "Wow," she said, stunned.

"Morning, gorgeous," Elliot said, smiling. "You hungry?" he asked.

Olivia smirked. "What did you do?" she asked.

"What," Elliot scoffed. "I can't make breakfast for my girls?"

Maureen ran into her father's arms and Olivia laughed as she watched Elliot swing her around. "Your girls?" Olivia asked, grinning.

"You and Maury," Elliot said, kissing his daughter on the cheek. "You're my girls." He sat Maureen in her booster seat and walked over to Olivia. "I made your favorites," he said as he kissed her.

Olivia chuckled. "You are really..."

"Trying to make up for lost time," Elliot interrupted. "Come on, baby. Sit." He led her to the table and pulled out her chair.

Olivia smiled as he pushed her in, then took the seat across from her. "This looks amazing," she said, picking up her fork.

"And I think it's gonna get better once you taste it," Elliot said smugly.

Olivia raised an eyebrow as she cut into her French toast. She listed the fork to her lips and bit down, and her tastebuds sang. "Oh, my God, El," she gasped. "This is incredible."

"Yeah," Elliot said, chewing and chuckling. "I told you it was," he said, proud of himself.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Have you always been this arrogant?" she asked, teasing him.

"Not always," Elliot said. "Just since birth. Juice, coffee, or milk?" he asked, chuckling.

Olivia laughed. "The fact that you're asking makes me wonder how well you..."

"Cream, two packets of sweetener, and whipped cream," Elliot said, raising an eyebrow, as he slid a large mug of coffee in front of her.

"Know me," Olivia said, finishing what she was gonna say. "El, this is so...sweet."

Elliot reached over and took her hand. "We don't get to do this very often," he said.

"At all," Olivia said, narrowing her eyes.

"Right," Elliot said. "And with us walking away from the world we never wanted to be a part of in the first place for a while, I thought we could...ya know...just be a couple."

Olivia squeezed his hand, and said, "That is the best idea I think you've ever had."

"No, the best idea I've ever had was kissing you in that gym," Elliot said with a smile. He brushed his thumb over her fingers, holding her hand as they shared a great breakfast with Maureen.

* * *

"Are you sure you need them?" Munch asked, printing out the files that Olivia and Elliot would need. "You could use me, and Fin would..."

"They would make you two as cops in a heartbeat," Porter said, shaking his head. "No one would expect Olivia and Elliot. They're just kids."

Fin scoffed. "Man, they ain't been kids in years," he said.

"Well, no," Porter said. "Benson is definitely not a little girl."

Munch stapled the sheets together, then slid the papers into manila folders. "You know she's only eighteen, and hates you, and is madly in lover with her partner, right?" he asked, peering over his glasses at Porter.

Porter took the folders and laughed. "I'm not interested in trying to get her...no," he said, shaking his head. "I'll take these over there, brief them on the case, find out how much he knows already, and then I will leave them alone for the rest of the weekend, as Cragen told me to."

"Uh, right," Munch said skeptically.

Porter nodded to Munch, then to Fin, then left the squadroom. He whistled as he walked down the stairs and out of the building. He hummed to himself cheerfully as he got into his car. He drove, bopping to music only he could hear, to Olivia and Elliot's place. He got out of the car, holding the folders, and with a bounce in his step, he climbed the stairs. He ran the doorbell, and smiled broadly as Elliot answered.

"What do you want," Elliot said with narrow eyes as he saw who was at the door.

Porter held up the files. "I want to give you your new assignment," he said.

Elliot sighed and stepped aside, then said, "Great. You came over just to give us details on a case?"

"Yeah," Porter said. Once inside, he turned and handed Elliot the folders. His hand shot to his hip, he grabbed his gun, and aimed.

Elliot's eyes widened. "What the hell man?" he spat.

"I also came over to get Olivia," Porter said, smirking. He cocked the trigger on the gun, readying it, and said, "What are you gonna do about it?"

Elliot, pissed off, smacked the gun out of his face and said, "Get a grip, Porter. Sit."

Porter raised both eyebrows and released the safety on the gun. He put it back in the holster and asked, "How did you know I wasn't serious?"

"Because you need the both of us," Elliot said. "And you know I would kill you," he said. He walked over to their bedroom door and said, "Baby, come out here."

Olivia walked out to meet him and said, "Maureen's finally sleeping, what's up?"

Elliot handed her one of the folders, then sat on the couch, pulling her down next to him. "We, uh, have an assignment with the FBI apparently. And Porter has a stupid sense of humor.

Olivia snickered, then opened her file. "Uh, whoa, hold on," she said, looking up at Porter. "How are we gonna pull this off?"

"We will fit you with a sympathy pack. It'll give the appearance that you're seven to eight months pregnant," Porter said. "You only need to wear it when you go out. The only people who have access to the inside of the house are the two of you, and me."

Elliot ran a hand through his hair. "And we are supposed to be willingly selling this child?"

"We think the trafficker is somewhere in Jersey now," Porter said. "We will set the two of you up in a safe house as a young, married couple, and he will make the offer. You will accept, then when you meet to make the final arrangements, we will take him down."

Elliot looked at Olivia, then down at the file in his hands, and then he shrugged. "This isn't what we signed up for," he said.

"You don't know what you signed up for," Porter said. "People own you, Stabler. And for as long as it takes to nail this bastard, one of those people is me. I need the two of you packed and ready by Monday."

Olivia ran a hand through her hair. "I'm not gonna be in any real danger, am I?" she asked. "Like, this guy, he isn't gonna try to..."

"No," Porter said, firmly. "I promise, you and Elliot are going to be completely safe." He began to tell them about the perp, and what they'd need to do, and hoped that he could keep that promise. Part of him knew, though, that he couldn't.

**A/N: What is the assignment? How do they handle it? And when they find out who their perp is, they both get a shock. Why? Who is it? Review here or on Twitter: TMG212**


	26. Setting the Stage

**A/N: What is the assignment? How do they handle it? And when they find out who their perp is, they both get a shock. Why? Who is it?**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters are owned by Dick Wolf. This story, though, belongs to TStabler©**

"Your mother is going to get really tired of watching Maureen," Olivia said, yawning as she threw her bags into the trunk of the yellow taxi they'd be taking to the house.

Elliot grunted, too sleepy to speak. He got into the back seat and leaned his head back, practically falling asleep the minute he sat.

"Hey," Porter said, turning to him from the front passenger seat. "You need to be awake for this."

"I don't need to be awake for the drive to fucking Jersey," Elliot grumbled. "It's four-thirty in the morning, you woke us up and told us we were leaving, I'm going back to sleep."

Olivia yawned as she scooted into the seat beside him. She dropped her head to his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her. "Sounds like a plan," she mumbled as her face buried itself into the crook of his neck.

Elliot hummed in response, rolling his head to lean against hers. He held her tighter as he felt himself losing consciousness rapidly.

Olivia tilted her head up and kissed his neck, then let herself get pulled almost completely into his lap. Cuddled in what appeared to be the same section of the back seat, they slept, like rocks, leaving Porter to roll his eyes and keep his negative thoughts to himself.

* * *

The hour long car ride was silent, Porter watching the scenery roll by out of his window and ignoring the backseat completely. He had caught a few glimpses in the rearview mirror, seeing them wake up, kiss, snuggle, kiss some more, and go back to sleep. It made him sick, but he had no idea why.

The car came to a stop, in front of a beautiful colonial house in a calm, sweet looking suburb. "Get up," Porter snapped, turning to the couple in the back.

Olivia shot up. "What?" she asked, looking around. "What happened?" she spat.

Porter rolled his eyes. "We're here," he said. "You have to put that thing on." He pointed to the floor of the car.

Elliot looked down at the monstrosity. He lifted it, and said, "Damn, this thing's heavy."

"Yeah," Porter said, nodding. "It's supposed to look and feel real. Her back is gonna hurt, she's gonna really be carrying the weight of a baby. She's gotta be a very convincing seven-months-pregnant girl, complaining and attitude and all."

Olivia sighed and looked at Elliot. She took off her tee-shirt, and turned her back to him, holding up her hair.

Porter cleared his throat, trying to look away, but couldn't. He watched as Elliot slid the round pack over her, helping her guide her arms through the straps, then squeezed the velcro shut, strapping her in. He watched as Elliot kissed her neck, taking the shirt from her and slipping it back on for her. He felt a pang of…was it jealousy?

Olivia turned to him, kissed him, and said, "Just think. I could have really been…"

"Yeah," Elliot interrupted, sighing. He looked at her and his heart cracked a tiny bit. Seeing her with the false belly on made him realize that a part of him wanted her to be carrying his child. It wasn't the right time, they weren't ready, or stable, but he found himself really getting emotional over this, and they hadn't even gotten out of the car yet. He blinked and shook his head. "We should get to work, then," he said, opening the car door. He got out and walked around to open Olivia's door.

Olivia moved, groaning at how hard it was, then reached for Elliot's hand. "Gonna need help here," she said, leaning back to get out of the car.

"You two remember who you are, right?" Porter asked, folding his arms as the driver got their luggage.

Elliot nodded. "Chris and Rachael Barker," he said.

"He's a trust fund baby," Olivia said. "I'm his high school sweetheart. On a whim, we got married. When I got knocked up, his parents freaked, and he's not allowed to touch his money if we keep this child."

"Only option, so we don't leave a paper a trail, is to sell the baby," Elliot said mechanically. "How the fuck could anyone actually…"

"Okay, El," Olivia interrupted. "We're not really doing it, we're here to stop it."

Elliot shrugged. "Doesn't make me feel any better. My parents weren't exactly thrilled when Kathy got pregnant, but we had her, and I knew the minute I held her that I would never…" he shook his head, shutting up.

Olivia ran a hand down his arm, feeling his pain and trying to ease some of it.

"Okay, so you got your story," Porter said. "Now you need your plan. You're staying with me, your loving uncle, who agreed to house you until you have the child and see that you go home without it. You talk to anyone, you say you're giving it up for adoption through a private agency. Anyone in the game will understand what that means, and hopefully get us some leads and information until the drop."

"Wednesday," Elliot said. "Are we expecting cash, another meeting, what?" he asked.

"Well, uh, the guy will probably want to set up the delivery in a private clinic, so he could take the baby as soon as it's born. He will hand you a contract, and when that happens, one of you needs to say, 'I guess that's it then' and we'll come in from all sides, surrounding him."

Olivia folded her arms over her incredibly large belly. "If you know who he is, why can't you just…"

"We've never caught him in the act," Porter interrupted. "We almost had him on a rape charge a year ago, but he was magically not really involved in that, either."

Elliot ran a hand down his face. "You're not gonna tell us who he is, are you?" he asked. "Why you needed us, why it had to be us, specifically. You're just gonna leave us in the dark."

Porter grabbed two suitcases, mindful of Olivia's "condition" and headed for the door. "Now, listen," he said. "I needed people who were young enough to look the part, and who don't look like cops. No offense, Benson, but you look more like a beauty pageant contestant than a detective."

"Is that a compliment or an insult?" Olivia asked as porter looked for the keys.

Elliot scoffed. "Both," he said.

Porter rolled his eyes, flipping through his keys. "I did a lot of digging before I asked for you two, so I know that this man has never met either one of you. That's why he won't know who you are when…"

"Great," Olivia said. "You understand the rules of an undercover op," she spat. "Who is it?" she asked, watching him finally turn the key, letting them into the house.

Porter sighed, shaking his head, and said, "Henry Cassidy."

Olivia stopped in her tracks. "Brian's father?" she asked.

Elliot was shocked. "Porter, I'm pretty sure Liv knows Brian's fath…"

"No," Olivia said. "I never met him. His dad left when he was a kid. Brian talked about him a lot. Said that he always thought something was wrong, he had a feeling he wasn't a good guy…" she stopped. She shook her head. "I don't know his father."

"If she knew him," Porter said, "She wouldn't be here." He looked at her and said, "You're inside, Olivia, you can take off that…"

Before Porter could finish his sentence, there was a knock on the door. The trio looked at the entrance, all reaching for their guns.

"I'll get it," Porter said, holding a hand out. "You two, get on the couch, look like a happy, normal couple. Or…try to."

Elliot made a face at Porter, then led Olivia to the couch. He helped her sit, and rubbed her lower back, knowing from experience how much pain she was in. "At least you can take this off. It's not real," he whispered to her.

Olivia looked up at him and nodded, dropping her head to his shoulder as she twisted, feeling and hearing her back crack.

"That was a good noise," Elliot said sarcastically, backing up and smirking at her.

"Felt fucking fantastic," Olivia mumbled.

Porter walked over to them and put down a chocolate cake. "Mister and Misses Ramirez, across the street, extend a warm welcome," he said. He held up a Bible and said, "And until I told them you were married, they offered their services to help you atone for your mortal sins."

Elliot rolled his eyes. "Boy, did that ship sail a long time ago," he said. He slid his hand up Olivia's shirt and tore the Velcro straps apart, feeling her lighten and sigh as the pack dropped away from her.

Olivia pulled it off and out from under her shirt. "I'm starving," she said, eyeing the cake.

Porter and Elliot laughed. "Yeah," Porter said, nodding. "You're gonna have no problem convincing people you're pregnant."

Elliot stopped smiling and tilted his head. "Odd question," he said, holding up a finger. "Why were the Ramirezes awake and watching this house at six in the morning, why did they have a random chocolate cake laying around, and why were they so quick to assume that Liv…Rachael was pregnant out of wedlock?"

Olivia looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "That was three questions," she said. "And they weren't odd." She looked up at Dean. "They were pretty damn good," she said.

Porter sighed and picked up the cake. "I'll have this tested for anything that might have harmed you, and we'll look into the Ramirezes. You two, stay here, don't answer the door, and don't leave the house."

Elliot looked at Olivia and smirked. "Not a problem," he said.

Olivia narrowed her eyes slightly and smirked back at him. She heard the door click and lock as Porter left. "Alone at last," she whispered, leaning into Elliot.

Elliot cupped her face, bringing her lips to his, kissing her. He moaned softly as they moved, pressing against each other. He chuckled, falling backward and pulling Olivia onto him. Though he knew they were both nervous about this case and being alone in the house, at the moment, Elliot gave Porter permission to take his time.

He smirked against Olivia's lips and let his hands roam her body, forgetting all about Ramirez and Porter, and the fact that Brian Cassidy would be involved in this, whether he wanted to be or not.

**A/N: How does Brian get involved? What are the answers to Elliot's investigative questions? And how does her pretending to be pregnant affect Olivia and Elliot? Review here, or on Twitter: TMG212**


	27. Fed Up

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the long wait on this story. It, and two others, have been horribly confounding, causing major writer's block for me. Forgive me?**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters are owned by Dick Wolf. This story, though, belongs to TStabler©**

"You two are gonna be the death of me," Porter said, coming back into the house.

Elliot, looking at him with a wicked smirk, having just redressed and calmed down after his quick bout with Olivia, said, "I'm guessing there was nothing in the cake."

"Chocolate, milk, sugar, and walnuts," Porter said, sitting on a plush chair across from the couple. "The Ramirezes were awake because Ronaldo works the night shift at a power plant, and Karen works early mornings in the nursery at the local hospital. They weren't watching the house, they just saw us coming. It's odd for people to just come and go around here that early. They were curious."

Elliot raised an eyebrow. "When did they make the cake, then?" he questioned.

"It was baked last night, for Ronaldo's birthday," Porter said, almost bitterly. "They, out of the goodness of their hearts and kind nature, decided to give it to you as a welcome to the neighborhood offering."

Olivia scoffed. "Still doesn't prove why they thought…"

"Because you don't look old enough to be married," Porter interrupted. "And Elliot looks like the type of kid who would get a girl like you into trouble."

"Hey," Elliot complained, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, ya do," Porter said with a shrug. "You two have an hour. Then you get dressed, drive into town, and do a little shopping."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I'm supposed to be pregnant. Shouldn't…"

"Pregnant women shop, Benson," Porter said with a smirk. "You'll be food shopping, since you just moved in, and hopefully when people see that you're not buying things for the baby, it'll send up some kind of smoke signal, and someone will come talk to you about your, uh, options."

Elliot shook his head. "I don't like this," he said. "We already have the meeting with the top dog set up, why do we need to fish for his stoolies?"

"We wanna shut this thing down for good, Stabler," Porter said, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. He watched with narrow-eyed confusion as Olivia lifted his feet and threw them off of the furniture. "If we get the head honcho," he said, sitting up and glaring at Olivia, "Then one of the people lower on the food chain will just climb up the ladder and take his place. What have we really accomplished?"

Olivia chuckled. "That was just a whole lot of metaphors, and you never really gave him an answer," she said, shaking her head. "I'm gonna take a shower," she informed the men in the room. "That car ride, and, uh, well, I just feel…dirty," she said, glancing at Elliot with a hint of seduction.

Elliot watched her go, then turned to Porter. He smirked, feeling the need to prove Olivia was his, and he stood and said, "That actually sounds like a good idea." He followed her footsteps, ignoring Porter's flabbergasted grunts and complaints.

He walked into the bathroom, startling her. She gasped, turning around quickly and pulling her recently discarded shirt tightly against her chest. "It's me," he said, softly, his eyes wide and with a smirk on his face.

"Jesus," she sighed, dropping the shirt. "I thought you were Porter," she told him, dropping her head into his chest.

He furrowed his brow. "Why would you think that?" he asked.

"When I was with him last time," she said, looking into his eyes, "He would do that. Just…walk into the bathroom, or my bedroom, unannounced."

Elliot's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. "How many times did he see you…"

"Never," she interrupted. "I have quick reflexes and a killer left hook. He never really saw anything, not for lack of trying."

He kissed her and brushed her hair back, listening to the running water in the shower behind her. "If he even thinks about it, I'll kill him."

Olivia smirked and kissed him again, pulling him back into the shower. The hot water hit him and he laughed. "Liv!" he cried. "I'm still fully clothed, here!"

"Oops," she chuckled, lifting his slowly soaking shirt over his head.

Elliot laughed, shaking the water off of him like a puppy as he shimmied out of his wet jeans, and he straightened up, looking at her as the water dripped down her body. "I love you," he said, tossing his wet clothes out of the shower, hearing them drop with a slosh.

"I love you, too," Olivia replied, welcoming his advancing arms and lips as they assaulted her, roaming and invading her body as they'd only just done an hour ago on the couch. She moaned as her head flew back into the tiled wall behind her, and she gasped softly as Elliot's lips and teeth latched onto her right nipple.

He moaned, a sound coming from somewhere low in his body, and he slipped his fingers into her. He moved them, twisted them, turned them, then maneuvered his hand to press his thumb against her clit. She inhaled sharply, causing him to nip a bit too hard on her nipple. He murmured a soft, "Sorry, baby," and continued his exploration of her body.

She moaned, crying his name softly, almost keening. She grazed over his slick body with her fingertips and wrapped her hand around his wrist, gently tugging him away from her. She looked into his eyes when his head popped up, they were dark and confused. She kissed him and wrapped her hands around his waist, rubbing her body against his, telling him what she wanted.

He smiled against her lips as he inched inside of her with ease, she still hadn't quite recovered from their last round, and he groaned in satisfaction, calling her name in a soft whisper as the water beat down on them.

* * *

Porter, growing tired of waiting for them, grabbed his cell phone and dialed a memorized number. "Yeah, it's me," he said, when someone answered. "They're here, and they're playing the part, uh, rather convincingly. I might need more time to…no, Wednesday will go off without a hitch."

Elliot, having just opened the door on the slightest of cracks, heard Porter and turned to look at Olivia. "He's on the phone," he whispered. "I think it's about the…" he paused, hearing Porter say Olivia's name, and his head snapped back toward the crack in the door.

Porter made a humming sound and said, "We'll get him, and you'll get her. Someone from LA will be here then to get Stabler. One thing, though," he said, pausing, looking cautiously at the bathroom door. "You're taking Benson, and I want in," he said. "The more I look at her, the more I see where you're coming from. It'll be easier to cover up if you don't piss off the FBI, Harr…yeah. Are we good, then?"

"Son of a bitch," Elliot scoffed, looking back at Olivia and closing the door. "He's setting us up," he hissed, his eyes narrow.

"What? Who?" Olivia asked, also whispering, as she wrapped a towel around her head.

"Porter," Elliot said. "When we show up on Wednesday to catch Cassidy's father, someone's gonna be there to grab you, and someone else is gonna be there to take me!" he spat in low, harsh tones, his anger seeping out of every word. "Where? Who the fuck knows, but we're not going together, according to what he just said!"

Olivia took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, "We're used to people screwing with us, aren't we?" she asked, trying to look into his eyes. "We can avoid it, now that we know…"

"That's just it, Liv!" Elliot spat. "I'm tired of people screwing with us! I knew he had ulterior motives for using us. You heard him talking to Cragen, he just wanted you, but you're contractually bound to me, so I had to tag along. Now, he's finding a way to get rid of me, and get you alone." He ran a hand down his face and smirked. "What if we turn the tables on the asshole?" he asked, looking at her.

"How do you plan to do that?" she asked, stepping closer to him with a smirk and folded arms.

He ran a hand down her bare arm, his fingers toyed with her towel, and his eyes glimmered teasingly at her. "We tell him we know, we flaunt our relationship a little more to make him even crazier, we make sure he knows that if anything happens to…if anyone even tries anything…he's gonna pay dearly for it."

"You wanna blackmail an FBI agent?" she asked, her eyes widening.

He leaned closer to her and said, "Think about it, Liv. This entire fucking thing, the whole time, we've been nothing but the victims of constant manipulation and blackmail. Baby, we're pawns for the police department and fucking federal government. I'm sick of this shit, and it's time we show them that all of our hard work and training has paid off."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asked, tilting her head as she watched a new fire burning brightly in his eyes.

He nodded. He smirked, a devil's grin, and said, "They created monsters, Liv. It's time they realized that."

She smirked, a devilish smile to match his, and she kissed him. "I love the way you think, partner," she said.

"Get dressed," Elliot told her, "And make sure you have your gun. I got an idea."

**A/N: What are they going to do? Who will be on their side, if anyone? And will Kathy be coming back into the picture? Of course, sooner or later! And, ya know, this would not be SVU without a few more Stablers…;) Review here, or on Twitter: TMG212**


	28. Endings and Beginnings

**A/N: Their plan is set into motion, and an old, familiar (but not friendly) face appears. This is how it ends...**

**DISCLAIMER: SVU and related characters/ideas belong to Dick Wolf. Original plot and dialogue belong to TStabler©**

Three days. Three days of watching them grope each other, of hearing the sounds of their lovemaking, of being threatened. How the hell they'd even found out about the real plan was beyond him, but now they were blackmailing him. They held him at gunpoint three days ago, made him give up his weapon and cell phone and tell them everything, and if that wasn't enough, they had been torturing him ever since.

For the last three days they'd been exhibitionists; doing their job, then coming home and doing each other, not even closing the bedroom door. Or bathroom door. Or kitchen gate. Or entrance to wherever the hell they decided to go at it.

Needless to say, Dean Porter was not having the best time. "Are you two done yet?" he yelled, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. "Jesus, I'd give anything to…"

"We're done," Elliot said, coming out of the bedroom in jeans, no shirt, Olivia at his side in a tee shirt with no pants. He wrapped an arm around her and said, "Give us ten minutes to get dressed, then we can go get the bad guys. With the help of the people I called, to keep you from taking her anywhere." He narrowed his eyes as Dean's widened.

"Who did you call?" Dean asked, fearful.

Olivia smirked. "Ghostbusters," she joked, her nails slowly grazing up and down Elliot's bare back.

"Funny," Dean snapped. "Seriously, who did you call?"

"Cragen," Elliot said, pulling a tee shirt on over his head. He smirked at Olivia, as his eyes ran up and down her body, and he jerked his head toward the bedroom, telling her to get dressed.

She kissed him, slowly and deliberately sensual, and then she turned to leave the room.

Once she was gone, Elliot sat across from Porter, reaching for his sneakers. "I called Cragen," he said again, tying his shoes. "Who, in turn, called your director. You're in a shitload of trouble, man. They're gonna meet us at the drop spot, wait down the block, and when we give them the signal, they'll come in, rushing the guy."

Dean grunted. A pitiful noise, but all he could do. "She wasn't gonna be in any danger, Stabler, you're making too big a deal out of this."

"I'm making a big deal about you setting us up? About you planning to kidnap me and my partner?" Elliot asked, standing. "I didn't make a big enough deal," he grumbled, making sure his gun was loaded. As he holstered it and pulled down his shirt over the belt, he said, "I should have let her shoot you. Lord knows she wanted to."

Dean shuddered. He remembered the look in Olivia's eyes when she was aiming her gun at his head. They were cold, gray, and the smirk on her face was pure maniacal. She wanted to shoot him. Elliot had to calm her down, talk her out of it. He had to pry the gun out of her hands. "Yeah," Dean sighed. "She did."

"I still do," Olivia said, walking out of the bedroom in a white maternity dress, her big, albeit fake, belly seemed to make her glow, as if she really was pregnant.

"I don't doubt that," Dean said, shaking his head. "Get in the car," he told them. "Let's get this over with."

Elliot smirked. "You don't make the rules anymore," he said, taking Olivia's hand. "You're going out first, and you're sitting in the back." He grabbed the keys, tossed them into the air, and caught them. "Or she'll shoot you."

"I believe you," Dean said, sighing as he stood up. He followed Olivia and Elliot out of the house, hoping the man to whom he'd promised Olivia wouldn't be too upset.

Olivia was the first one out of the car, her belly concealing a wire and her gun. Elliot had strapped a tape recorder and small microphone to her chest, picking up all of Dean's blathering in the car as well as anything their "baby-buyer" might say.

She walked out into the middle of the road, and she looked both ways as she crossed the street to wait by the bench, their scheduled meeting spot. She saw, through a break in the trees, the two black cars that housed her captain and three other detectives. She was safe. She felt Elliot beside her then, taking her hand, and they let out a simultaneous sigh.

"We're okay," he whispered into her hair, placing a small kiss behind her ear.

She nodded, then held her breath as she saw a small, red jeep pull up across the street. The man got out of the car, and he saw them immediately. He ran across the street, ignoring the honking horns of the oncoming traffic.

Elliot squeezed her hand, reassuring her they were going to be fine, and he held out his other hand to the man approaching them. "Mister Reynolds," he said, nodding. "Thank you so much for meeting us."

The man smirked. "You have something I have great need for," he said. "It's really my pleasure. When, exactly, can we expect this little bundle to arrive?"

"Two weeks," Elliot said, resting one hand on her bump. "It's so hard to give him up, but we don't really have a choice. My parents are very…"

"I know your story," the man said. "So it's a boy then? That changes things. The price for a boy is…substantially higher."

Elliot looked at Olivia. She cleared her throat and asked, "So you're saying…you would give us more money for a boy?"

The man nodded. "I would be getting more for a boy, in turn giving you more. How does…say…Fifty-Three Thousand sound?"

Elliot's eyes bulged. "For…wow, that sounds…that sounds pretty damn good." He hoped the mic under Olivia's shirt picked that up; it was the phrase that would signal them to come into the mix.

The man laughed, then pulled out a gun and grabbed Olivia's arm. "However," he said, "It's much cheaper if I just take the girl." He held the gun to Olivia's head and said, "If you're smart, you'll just let me walk away. And don't even think about pulling that gun on me."

Elliot's eyes widened.

"That's right," the man said. "I know. And I know you won't risk her life by trying to save her right now." The man cocked the trigger and chuckled again. "Or do you wanna prove me wrong?"

Stunned, scared, and angry, Elliot watched the man pull Olivia across the street, the gun to her temple, as she struggled to get free. He heard the cars rounding the corner as he watched Olivia being forced into the jeep. Terrified, he watched the man drive away, but the two black cars, thanks to the wire she was wearing, knew what had happened and followed closely behind her.

Elliot ran toward the blue sedan, got in, and peeled out fast. He shouted to Dean in the backseat, "You son of a bitch!"

"I had nothing to do with this," Dean defended. The smirk on his face, though, proved him wrong.

He was driving as fast as he could, but they were too far gone. He'd lost them. There was nothing to do now but wait, and hope that the man wouldn't kill her when he found out her baby was fake. Or keep her when he found out, in nine months, it would be all too real.

The drive back to the city was quiet, long; they'd heard nothing from Olivia or Cragen, or Fin. Dean was sitting in an empty desk, watching Elliot pace back and forth in the squad room.

Three people walked through the doors, then, and Dean sat up straighter. "Hey, Stabler," he said. "You got company."

Elliot turned, expecting to see Olivia, but he was just as happy to see who it really was. "Mo, baby." He dropped to floor and let the tiny girl run into his arms. "I missed you, honey."

"Mom?" she questioned, looking sadly into her father's eyes.

He looked up at his mother, waiting in the doorway, and then he looked back down at the girl. "She'll be back soon," he said. He swallowed the guilt he felt for lying to her, for lying to himself. He lifted her into his arms and let her drape herself over his shoulder. He looked at his mother, and then noticed the woman to her right.

"Hello, Elliot," the young blonde said.

Elliot's eyes narrowed. "Kathy," he hissed out. "What are you doing here?"

"I stayed with your mom, and our daughter, while you were gone. I…I missed her. She doesn't know I'm her mother, Elliot, I had to fix that."

"She has a mother," he spat. "A mother who…" he blinked, letting a tear fall. He shook his head, not wanting to talk, or even think about it anymore.

Dean, his hands cuffed to the desk, sighed as he said, "Look, for what it's worth, your girl is smart. Tough. She'll get out of this."

"She's in this mess because of you," Elliot said harshly, turning around. "You never…you told him about her, and because you knew that we wouldn't let you take her, and Brian Cassidy couldn't be there…you set this up you son of a bitch, I know you did."

Dean smirked. "You're giving me far too much credit," he said. "You took my phone, remember? You didn't let me out of the house at all after you found out what the plan was."

Elliot squinted. He had a point. He grunted and turned around again, only to come face to face with Kathy. "Move," he said to her.

She shook her head, looking into his eyes. "You need me right now. You need a friend, Elliot. Don't deny that, like you always have. You need a little comfort."

Elliot sighed, his eyes closed, and his head dropped onto Kathy's shoulder. Kathy's hands sunk into his head, stroking his hair. She heard sniffles and felt his body heaving. For the first time, as long as she'd known him, she actually saw him cry.

"Where's mommy?" Maureen asked, her voice heartbreakingly soft.

"I don't know," Elliot said just as quietly. "Baby, I just don't know."

Cragen and the other detectives had come back, with Reynolds in cuffs. Olivia wasn't with them. "She wasn't in the jeep," Fin explained with a sad shrug, "And this hump ain't talkin.'"

* * *

Days flew by, and then weeks, and then months. No word at all, from anyone, about what had become of Olivia Benson. Life in the One-Six seemed to move on around him. He had a new partner, contract be damned, and Porter was given six months for conspiracy, then released, back into the open arms of the FBI, where he promised to do everything he could to find Olivia.

His daughter had celebrated a birthday, and her only wish was to have the woman she considered her mother come home. He watched, sad and tired, as she blew out the candles, knowing that if that ever happened, a little brother or sister would be coming home, too. Unless his calculations were wrong. He prayed they were wrong. He wanted to be there.

He had hoped their plan would have worked, that they were just as manipulative as the people around him. They had taken her away from him once, for less time, and he was a mess, and absolute wreck. They wanted to make them feel guilty again, this time knowing, or at least thinking she was in real danger.

He'd waited for as long as he could, keeping up the charade, pretending he had no idea where she was, but she should have been home long ago. She should have been back, she should have been done. Something had gone wrong, and now the fear and the aching, the loss, it was real. Too real.

He was handling some mind-numbing paperwork, thinking about how he'd _almost_ given in once, _almost_ caved to his depression and his desperate need to feel something, and _almost_ slept with Kathy, and how she told him she wouldn't fault him, or mind, if he murmured and moaned Olivia's name. He _refused_, he walked away, and he'd felt guilty, so guilty, for weeks because he'd even _thought_ about it, and he promised it wouldn't happen again. His thoughts never drifted from Olivia. He was lost in those thoughts, pen in hand, when something caught his attention. Something familiar. The sound of her voice.

He turned, looking at a small TV set on Fin's desk. "What the hell…"

"Shh," Fin snapped.

There she was, on a news program, walking behind some officers who were hauling two men in cuffs into a building. It looked like their building, actually, and the reporters were asking questions they weren't getting answers to. She looked amazing, and she looked very pregnant.

"Oh, my God," Elliot breathed. He shot out of his seat, ran out into the hall, and waited impatiently by the elevator. When the doors slid opened, he waited for the armed, uniformed men to bring the cuffed guys out. He waited for them to move out of his way, and then he ran. He ran fast. Hard. Almost knocking her over.

She wrapped her arms around him, she let out a sigh of relief as silent tears fell onto his shoulder. "We got 'em," she whispered.

He sniffled as he held her. "Honey…were you…did you…do we have…"

She nodded into his chest. "Everything's fine. I know…you left messages, and texts, but I couldn't answer you. It was awful, I had to…God, the things I had to see there."

"But you got 'em," he said to her. He kissed her lips and he looked into her eyes. "You got both of 'em, baby."

"We did," she said. "You had to keep people out of the loop here, you had to…you had to do what you had to do. It was just as much you as it was me."

He kissed her again, holding her in his arms, and he ran his lips over her chin and neck. "Never again," he said. "I don't care if it was my idea. This is never happening again."

"You…" she blinked, knowing what she wanted to ask, finding it hard. "You and Kathy…are you two together, or were you? I just...I have to know, El."

"I called you…told you…I left a message, I mean," he babbled. "Almost, but no. It wasn't something…I couldn't…I couldn't do it. I couldn't betray you, us."

"I know," she said with a sigh and a small smile. "You told my phone everything. I just wanted to make sure you weren't lying to me." She swiped her thumbs under his eyes. "I have to hand in some reports, explain a few things to Cragen. Then I wanna go home and spend some time with you and Maureen," she said.

He nodded. "Sounds perfect," he said. He watched her walk away and he called her back to him. "Liv?"

She turned back to him, a gleam in her eyes. "El?"

He walked over to her, kissed her, and said, "I never got to ask you…before…everything happened so fast...I..." he stopped. He took a breath. "Marry me."

She smirked. She kissed him again and whispered, "As if I ever had an alternative."

**A/N: Another story concluded. Be on the lookout for a new one soon!**


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